The Unforeseen
by celticguidance
Summary: Tobias' cousin comes to live with him at thier uncle's after her family dies. Dawn has dealt with a lot of strange things in her short life, but when an alien dies in front of her she has to save the world this time. Buffy can't always be there.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own BTVS or Animorphs.

AN- This story starts at 'The Message' for Animorphs and after 'The Gift' for BTVS. Cassie, Jake, Marco, Rachel, and Tobias are one year older and Dawn is a year younger, making them all fourteen. A lot of the chapters will be based off of the books (But not all of them because that would make this story crazy, painfully long.), but as we get farther in the Animorph storyline Dawn impact becomes bigger. Most of this story is written on paper and it is just the process of typing it up, which is a pain in the butt, but I would still love to hear any thoughts you might have. Also, I would love to have a beta for this story, if anyone is interested. (My husband is working too hard and just too tired to give my writing a good correcting.)

**Chapter One- The Message**

When everyone you love is gone you need something to cling to, and if things had gone differently then I may have picked up a hobby, like stealing things. But who needs a hobby when you are trying to save the world? Buffy didn't.

My name is Dawn. I can't tell you my last name or where I live. I can tell you where I used to live; Sunnydale CA. Don't recognize it? Don't worry. If you do, if you really know what Sunnydale is, then it is you I worry about the most.

We are fighting a war against a parasite more dangerous than anything that pulled itself out of hell. Sometimes I lay in bed, and wonder how we could have been so stupid. My sister died to save the world, and in the end the true enemy was much farther away than we ever knew. Like outer-space far. You think I am crazy, right? Think of it this way, there are parallel dimensions, magic, and vampires but little gray slugs taking over the world a little too much for you? Well they're here, and they're called Yeerks. Nasty little things that crawl into the heads of their host and take over all bodily controls and there's very little that stands between them and you.

There were six of us there the night I found out about the little bastards. Two sets of cousins, and two best friends. Cassie and her best friend Rachel, Rachel's cousin Jake and his best friend Marco. Then there was Tobias and Me. Our mothers were sisters, mine dead, his missing. I lived with my sister Buffy until she took a swan dive for the world and, well, mostly for me. After that my sisters closest friends tried to care for me but CPS had a reason why each and every one of them was unsuitable. Xander's job was unstable and Anya had no filter between her brain and mouth, which almost got her put in jail when talking to the social worker. Tara and Willow are too gay, that's not what the social worker said, but it was what she meant. Giles was not an American citizen and Spike... Well, he had no pulse. So I ended up with my mother's brother after my father Hank couldn't be found. That's where I meet Tobias, my cousin.

Jake had invited Tobias along after he saved him from a bully. I had been trying to teach Tobias some of the self-defense moves Spike, my bleached wonder, had taught me, but Tobias just couldn't get them right. And for the last month, where ever Tobias went, I was never far behind. What happened changed our lives forever. It thrust a bunch of fourteen-year-old kids in an alien war. Fourteen, that is a year younger than Buffy was when she was called. Almost ironic, huh?

We saw a space ship crash and we ran to see what had happened. Okay, the others ran and while I, knowing better but doing it anyways, followed behind. The alien's name was Elfangor and it was him that told us about the Yeerks, how humanity was going to be enslaved and used as hosts, but he could help. His people, the Andalites, were coming and he could give us a gift, the power to fight the Yeerks, to hold them back until his brethren finally came to save the day.

He held out his blue hand and in it held a cube, he told us to touch it and we would receive the power to morph into any animal we touch by coping the creature's DNA. I watched as the others placed theirs hand on the cube before looking at Elfangor, smiling. "Slayer blood, how can I say no?" and I put my hand above my cousin's.

So who's still with me? Most normal people have tuned out by now, right? So that leaves; the crazies- Who cares? The Watchers-Stuffy prats. The pointy pulse challenged- Hi Angel! Spike, it's okay your Bit's still alive. The Weres- Miss you Oz. The Witches- Love you Willow and Tara! Be careful, kay? And other random demons and humans who fight you- Xander, Anya, Cordy and all the rest you... I will always love you. Listen to me, all of you, you need to keep the supernatural a secret from the Yeerks. Can you imagine if they got a hold of demons as hosts? If they had witches in the task force or if the slayer... It must not happen. You need to stay as far from this fight as you can. As much as we could use your help, it is just too risky.

~*~

Tobias was our first casualty; he stayed over the two hour time limit and is now stuck in hawk morph. He was having more trouble adjusting then I could help with. Jake, as good of a guy he is, just didn't understand Tobias' needs now. I brought Tobias raw liver and other giblets, and helped him to understand there is nothing wrong with meeting his new form's needs. I think it bothered him more than me. After all I used to prepare Spike's blood for him.

"Hey Dawn, you okay?" Cassie asked as she sat by me in the lunch room. We had become friends during the last couple of weeks, kind of a click. Cassie was sensitive, like a witch in waiting; she knew when each of us was out of sorts.

"I'm thinking of my best friend from before, Spike." I told her.

Her dark eyes lit up, "The one that looks like Billy Idol?" She asked pointing to the picture on my clear-view folder.

"Yeah, he took care of me after Buffy died." I tended not to talk about it that much. Yes, because it hurt but also because I was scared what would happen. After all, Buffy didn't seem to like the insane asylum too much.

"Well, I was wondering if you won't mind helping me out after school at the clinic. The others already said they'll be there." She asked.

"Knee-deep in poo, how could I refuse?" I said with a wink and she gave the appropriate response.

Cassie was like a Willow-Tara mash, minus the lesbian part because Cassie was totally crushing on Jake. And she was black, meaning she would kind of look odd with blond or red hair. But she was shy and sweet, she cared about everyone, she even helps her parents with a wildlife clinic. However today after school was not about helping animals it was an Animorphs meeting.

Animorphs, a term invented by Marco, is what we are calling ourselves. It's the new age Scoobies. I have a feeling it's about the dreams I keep getting. I know Tobias has been getting them too, this voice asking for help and the feeling of being trapped. At first I thought it was Buffy. Goddess knows, I thought it was Buffy telling me I sent her to hell. But after the second time I knew it was different, the cry was in thought-speech. That is what we use when we talk to each other in morph; it is also what Elfangor used to talk to us, since Andalite's don't have mouths. And, no, I do not know how they eat.

The rest of the day went by slowly; school just didn't seem to matter much anymore. No one really liked me; they all thought I was a freak, except for the others. I guess I kind of was, maybe I should see someone. Was it normal to be depressed after everyone important was taken from you? Plus, school sucked anyway, so why be happy there?

As I started across the school to head towards Cassie's I saw a shadow fall across me, I looked up to see a red-tailed hawk. "Hey, Cuz." I said as he sat on a goal post.

{Plans changed; we're headed to Rachel's.} He told me.

I turned around, grumbling about always being left out of the loop.

{Pity. Pity. Pity.}

"Oh, shut-up."

Rachel's house reminded me of our house back in Sunnydale. It had been sold and the money was put in a trust for me, but I missed it. The way everything went together, it was a sign a mother was in the house, the love just beamed from the couches to the curtains.

Up in her room I let Cassie tell everyone about the dreams, adding the differences in my dreams versus theirs. Mine had a lot less water in them and much more voice.

"No dreams about water, expect the one about Dawn in a red Bay-Watch swimsuit." He smiled cheekily at me, and against my will I could feel my face turning red.

{Cousins!} Tobias called.

"Kill me, please?" I said covering my face.

"Most of my dreams involve Mr. Rogers though, as not pleasing as Dawn-" He was cut off as I chucked a stuffed toy from Rachel's bed at him. The others didn't understand me, how I was so different here with them versus at school. The thing was when I had a purpose I felt alive, the most I've felt since Buffy died.

"As interesting as it is to pick on Dawn, I have something to show you." He pulled a tape out of his bag.

"Oh, movie time." Marco exclaimed.

"Not a movie, doesn't anyone watch late night news?"

"Not allowed near the tube." I said shrugging, before the others put in their reasons.

Jake sighed, "Rachel, can we use your VCR down stairs?"

"Sure," She answered.

We all trooped down the stairs, while I gave Tobias a ride on my forearm.

"Hey Tobais," Marco said, "I've been meaning to ask you, are hawks like seagulls? I mean do they poop while flying?"

{Depends, are you still thinking about my cousin in a bathing suit?} He replied.

Jake popped the tape in after we all got settled, "It is only a small segment."

We watched as a large, hairy man held up a large piece of metal, "So we're pulling fashion police?" I asked.

"Look at what he's holding, look at the letters." Jake said shaking his head at me.

"It's not in English," Cassie said.

"Or any language I recognize." I told them. They found out, during an earlier mission, that I spoke and read a number of languages.

"That night the Andalite crashed I ran into the ship to get the cube. I saw writing, that writing, in the ship." Jake told us.

"You think that's a piece of an Andalite ship." I whispered.

Everyone got silent. Even Marco.

I looked at my cousin, but he seemed to be spinning. And then there was the ground. Hello ground.

~*~

{Please help me.} The voice said, {I can't last much longer. Please, if you hear me, help.}

I was under the water, but I was standing on blue-green grass. Strange. {Help.}

"It's what we do." I told the voice, even though I couldn't see it, "We help the helpless."

I opened my eyes to see Marco standing over me and Rachel arguing with Jake about calling nine-one-one. Cassie was awake and telling them she was fine when I saw Tobias. "Toby!" I jumped up and ran to him. It seemed no one thought to catch him just like they missed me.

Cassie ran over to check on him, and just as she did he woke up. He jumped up and started to flare and jump around and it was a moment before Tobias was able to overcome the hawk. Did I explain that when you morph you get the animals basic instincts, it sometimes take a moment to overtake them. The first time I morphed my attack morph, a huge croc, I nearly ate Marco. Much to Rachel's amusement.

I listened as the others decided that it could be an Andalite that was calling them. Yeah, got that here. And whether we should journey to the beach to check it out. As one by one they voted to go they looked at me.

"Help the helpless." I told them, smiling at my cousin. He had a connection with the Andalite that crashed, though we don't know what it was.

Buffy died by drowning the first time, I really hope I don't follow in her footsteps.

~*~

Well, we learned a couple of things the last few days, One- Fresh water fish really do not belong in the ocean. And two- The Sharing sucks. Okay, so we already knew the last part. The Sharing is supposed to be a feel good big brother organization that helps out youths. When it is in fact a Yeerk cover organization trying to find new hosts. Goodie.

Now, because of overhearing some Controllers talking about a Andalite ship, we were heading to the Gardens. It is a theme park slash zoo that Cassie's parents works at as vets. I am glad they never asked what my sister did after my mom died. 'Oh, she killed things,' not the best answer. Mom, on the other hand, she owned an art gallery. I love art, and dance, always have. Sometimes I think maybe I could be an artist when I grow up. And pretend that mom was still around, so she could sell my paintings. Sometimes.

Marco's mom died too. He had a lot of money problems and sometimes it made things difficult and embarrassing. I would be in the same boat if Spike and Giles didn't send me money every week. I felt bad taking some of the Magic Box's profits from Giles and I really didn't know where Spike got the money, didn't really want to.

Marco, Tobias, and I were from broken families, while Jake, Cassie, and Rachel were from the strong American standard. We seemed so perfectly divided and different that I just know the PTB had something to do with it. And then sometimes I think that I was never meant to be part of the team. Like the monks threw a wrench that no one was expecting. Monks? You ask. Don't, it's need-to-know.

We were going to absorb dolphin DNA in order to check out the ship we think is on the bottom of the ocean. And I must say dolphins, pretty impressive. They swan around, jumping through the air, doing anything to achieve the all powerful treat.

Cassie got the workers to let us pet them, as I reached out to touch the dolphin I could have sworn it gave me a look that Buffy would. It said I know what you are, but I will protect you. It was strange since Willow made the green glow part of me that certain animals could see disappear until I am more ready to handle that part of me. Dolphins, huh?

~*~

As I tied a watch to Tobias' leg, so he could keep track of time for us, Marco stood over my shoulder, "Rolex? Darn, I didn't know you where that rich."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not, I think Spike stol- Umm it was a gift." I flushed after my correction.

{I don't think any bird watchers will notice.} Tobias told them moving his leg around.

"And if they do they'll just think you're a kept bird." Marco said.

One by one we morphed into dolphins, I went last so I could wave bye to Tobias. Morphing was a rather ugly process, like a body becoming something it was not meant to be. If you've ever see a were-wolf transform then you know what I am talking about. And I was not too great at it and making it pretty like Cassie could was not going to happen. Funny when you think about it since I have more experience with changing form then them. But while I don't make it pretty, I am able to control my morph better than the others. I know, but didn't you almost eat Marco? Yeah, well, who doesn't want to eat him once in a while? Annoying wanker.

That is why I was on team with Tobias trying to tell the others that they needed to get a hold of themselves. Not that anyone listened to me, not until the sharks.

~*~

Save a whale, nearly drown Marco, and then get told where the alien is from said whale. Not weird at all.

"What if we hitch a ride? I know someone. But... wrong coast." I said. We were trying to fix a problem... That the ship was way too far out to get there in our two hour time limit. Of course I didn't tell them the biggest flaw in the 'I know someone' offer was that the someone I knew also threw his father in the ocean for a few weeks. In a coffin.

Jake looked at me, "Dawn has a good idea. If we first morph into something like a seagull and take a boat out to sea."

"I hate plans the start with 'First we morph,'" Marco whined. "Why don't we just hand ourselves over to Visser Three right now?"

"The plan is daring, if you want we can put it into a vote." Jake said looking around. Yes, Jake is our Buffy.

"I'm in." Marco said just before Rachel. As everyone looked at him he shrugged, "Wanted to beat Rachel." Rachel was our much less evil Faith, minus the horny.

{I don't think I should vote since I'll be land locked.} Tobias said.

"You get the dreams too." Cassie told him.

{Why the three of us?} He asked.

"You are in morph." Rachel told him, "Then there is Cassie and Dawn who have talents when it comes to morphing."

I shrugged, more or less. More less, but who's asking?

"You should get a vote. You are part of us." I told him. 'My blood.' I thought in my head, 'It's always the blood.'

{Yes.} He said.

"Yes." Cassie said after Tobias, which means they were all looking at me.

"As long as it's not Dracula's ship we high-jack. I'd never live that down." The others looked at me before laughing at what they thought was a joke. I really would never live that down.

~*~

We were all huddled in an area between shipping containers, shivering from the cool ocean air. "All I'm saying is once winter comes we are going to be a sad little group of Animorphs." Marco said. He was talking about the fact we could only morph with the most skin tight of clothes, that weren't very warm.

I tilted my head, "What is this winter you speak of?" I asked making everyone laugh.

"Oh, Cali girl is in for a surprise." Marco said.

{I better go before I can't fly back, or end up in Singapore.}

"Show-off." I told him knowing he had read a manifest or something.

He dropped me the watch. {Take care, Dawnie.}He told me in private thought-speech.

"Bye, Toby." I whispered.

It was boring; sitting huddled in the cold for an hour while we headed farther out to sea. And time alone with my thoughts always leaves me in bad places. So I tried to do other things, like playing word games with Cassie and Jake or talk about the latest fashions with Rachel.

After about an hour Cassie, who had a mind melt with the whale, figured it was time to jump into the ocean. After tossing in a half morphed Marco, because the bozo couldn't swim, was this the wrong time to mention my fear of heights because next thing I know I have Cassie holding my hand counting to three. Before she got to two she pulled both of us off the railing and in the water we went.

Water cold. Water cold. Water cold. Guess what? Brain function in cold water is not too great. It took me a minute longer to morph than the others, but that was normal, as I said before I am not that great at it. By the time I was a complete dolphin we could see the coming helicopters. It meant one thing, Yeerks.

Cassie told us to take a deep breath. And I can tell you I did, but dolphins are not meant to hold their breath forever and after a while it was becoming uncomfortable.

As I was about to join in on the complain team. I saw it. The ship, the one I could now see that in my dream I was standing inside of. Its huge clear dome was a least half a mile long and full of blue-greenish life.

I was stuck looking at the dome, when I noticed the others had left me and Jake, I think, was pressing a panel. I snapped back to myself and my body was screaming AIR! So I quickly followed the others in.

As the panel behind us closed, Marco had to open his mouth... mind, {I knew we'd be in a fish tank sooner or later.}

As the water drained I was very happy to find air. Glorious air! Ugh, glorious, a word that needs to be removed from my vocabulary.

After everyone waited for me to finish de-morphing, shut-up, the other door opened bringing in a burst of floral air. But as a flash of light hit the others. I quickly ducked and rolled forward, but not fast enough for a moment later I was hit. Darn.

~*~

When I came around Marco had said something to make the Andalite very angry.

I looked at the Andalite, taking in his appearance, he was a light blue, and looked like a fur covered centaur expect for a few differences; he had an angular face with slits for a nose and no mouth, on top of his head sat two extra eyes that moved atop stalks allowing them to move freely, and his tail, at the end of the strong appendage sat a long curved blade. {How could you have heard my call, I sent it to my cousins.} He asked.

"I don't know, but both Dawn and I heard it, and one other, Dawn's cousin." He turned one of his eyes to look at me.

"We wanted to help." I told him.

"We thought it might be an Andalite." Cassie added.

{How do you know of Andalites?} He asked.

"We meet one, right before he was killed." Jake told him.

I saw him give Jake a stare down with his main eyes, {Who was it that you saw die?}

"I don't remember his whole name-"

But I cut him off, "Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul."

"How does she do that? My mouth just can't put all that together." Marco said.

Making me roll my eyes. "Great, I'm a Giles." But I saw the Andalite was no longer looking too great.

{Who killed him!} The Andalite was yelling at Jake now.

"The one you don't want us to talk about." Cassie told him.

He looked sad, as he lowered the weapon and his tail dropped. {He was my brother. How... Did he die well? In battle?}

"He died protecting us." I told him. "He fell with honor." I would know, I've seen too many people die.

{My brother was a great warrior. No Andalite could claim better.} He said.

"I lost my brother too, he's a Controller." Jake told him.

{And you humans, do you serve Yeerks or fight them.} He asked.

"Goddess, you have to ask?" I exclaimed.

"Goddess?" Marco asked making me turn and glare at him.

"Don't even." I said holding a finger up. "Fight." I clarified to the Andalite.

{That weapons do you have? What do you fight with?}

"Wooden stakes, crossbows and pixie dust." I said rolling my eyes.

"Dawn has a screw lose. Sometimes." Marco told him.

"The power your brother gave us, the power to morph." Jake intervened.

{Elfangor did that? It is not done.} He looked upset, {Things must be very bad for him to resort to such measures.}

I can't help thinking that he talks like old British guys, saying ten words when three are needed. "It's bad. And I've seen bad, horrific even. Your ship isn't ultra sturdy and some of it broke off. The Yeerks are on their way here."

{What do you plan to do?}

I looked at Jake. "To get you out of here and hide you where they can't get to you."

{You came to save me?}

"Yes." Jake told him.

He smiled with his eyes, {You must rest before morphing again.}

As we walked the Andalite told us about the ship, stopping because he said it was something he wasn't supposed to talk about. Finally telling us that he was young much like us. The others seemed disappointed but I shrugged it off, after all what were we? What were the Scoobies?

"I'm Cassie, that's Marco, Jake, Rachel, Dawn, and there is one more up top, Tobias." Cassie pointed to each of us.

{l am Aximili-Esgarrouth-lsthil..} He told us.

The others stared so I was kind enough to repeat it to him.

"Ax." Marco said. "Because not everyone had Dawn's skills."

{Who is your Prince?} And one by one we all looked at Jake.

"Oh! Come on." Jake said.

{I pledge to you Prince Jake until I may return to my kind.} He made a kind of bow and I couldn't stop the giggle. It was just too strange, and yet not strange enough.

~*~

As Ax was describing the scenery of the Dome ship Rachel leaned close to Cassie and I, "He's cute." She whispered. It was stupid but I found myself blushing, "And I think Dawn agrees." She added making Cassie turn to me quickly, only causing me to turn redder.

As the others put Ax through the third degree I just watched him. When you first looked he seems so sure if himself but when you looked harder you see the hesitation and the young age. When they seemed to be ganging up on him just too much I jumped in, "We all have secrets." I said in response to him not being able to tell us certain things.

"Of course, coming from the queen of secrets." Marco said turning to me.

"I'm just saying if he says he can't tell us things than pressuring him is just going to make him angry." I said back.

"Um, I am ready to morph," Cassie put in, most likely trying to defuse the situation.

"Right, we should go." Jake told everyone.

As we walked to the hatch Marco spoke up, "I have to ask, what are we going to do with him?" Pointing to Ax.

"I don't think he can go out like that, I mean water pressure, thus compact slash exploding Andalite and all." I put in.

He moved his main eyes to me, {You are correct my body will not be able to manage the pressure at this depth nor the change of pressure upon arrive of the surface. But I was able to obtain a sea creature morph from this world.}

"Great-"

Ping. Ding. Ding. Ping.

"Don't tell me." I said holding my head in frustration.

"They found us. Sonar, you know? Ever seen Hunt for Red October?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, but Spike's crypt gets crappy reception." I told him.

"Crypt? What are you ghetto?"

"Whatever, let's get out of here." I said not wanting to say more.

We all shoved into the fish bowl thing and we started morphing.

After the ship rattled with an explosion Cassie pointed it out we realized Ax had morphed into a shark.

{Hey, no fair. I want to be a shark.}

{Shut-up, Dawn.} Rachel told me, I think she was thinking the same thing, and I tried my best to give a dolphin pout. Which I don't think worked.

As a final explosion came we swam free from the ship.

It was not long before we found that Taxxons could swim, strangely well for giant round worms. These things have the control of a newly risen vamp and the appetite of fifty and a million more teeth.

However it was a slaughter. Taxxons were not meant to fight a bunch of dolphins and a shark. They popped like an over ripe apple, it was gross. {Goddess, why can't all bad guy just go poof and dust?}

Whoop. Whoop. Whoop.

{What the heck is that?} Rachel asked.

Whoop. Whoop. Whoop.

{Bad, that's what.} I said.

{It is a creature from one of our Andalite moons, a mardrut. It uses water to propel itself using a chamber system, which sounds like-}

Whoop. Whoop. Whoop.

{That.}He finished.

I could see its huge body coming towards us, {That's not a normal alien moon creature, it is very determined to get us.}

{It is Visser Three in morph.} Ax said, full of utter disdain.

{Yeah, we meet.} Marco told him.

{You meet Visser Three and lived? Very honorable.} Ax told us.

{I'll trade the honor for a speed boat right now.} I said, {Or a pepper-up potion}

{A what?} Jake asked.

{Why do all my Harry Potter jokes fall flat?} I muttered.

{Illiteracy, in Marco's cases at least.} Rachel said.

{Har-Har.} Marco said back.

It didn't take long to figure out dolphins are not marathon swimmer. My muscles where tiring and it was starting to make my head spin. Slayer strength would have been very, very welcome right now.

{When I catch you I will eat you my little Andalites. It won't be long now.} Visser Three's voice crashed through my mind.

Whoop. Whoop. Whoop.

{We are going to die.} Ax cried, {He killed my brother, he killed Elfangor and now he is going to kill us.}

{Stop it, Aximili.} I yelled to him, {Keep going, don't listen and don't reply. People like him use fear to make their victims weak. He thinks that it will give an edge against even the strongest of warriors. But it only works if you let it.}

The more I pushed the dolphin body, the more it weakened. The water created a massive amount of resistance, making it no longer my friend and long since my enemy. Looking back I could see the monstrous creature not more the a few body lengthens behind us.

I thought about Buffy, how beautiful she looked when she died, like she was floating there in the air. Like she was in water instead of a portal to hell, just like how I am going to die. I could even hear the cry of the dragon from the other side of the portal. Wait that's not a dragon, it's a whale. The same whale that we had saved from the sharks earlier.

I could hear Cassie calling to the whale asking it for help.

{We have used eighty percent of our time.}

{Twenty-four minutes.} Rachel gaped; her lungs must have been burning as bad as mine were.

{We need to turn and fight.} I told them.

{What is Rachel doing with Dawn's voice?} Marco tried to joke, but it was strained and thready.

{We will not win.} Ax replied.

{It doesn't matter. What are we going to do? Let him eat us from behind? I'd rather jump into danger and fight than be devoured while running.} I told them.

{You sound like a warrior.} Ax said to me.

{Runs in the family.} I said.

{She's right.} Rachel gasped.

{Oh, Xena agrees, surprise.} Marco put in.

{We fight.} Jake told us making the decision for us, {On the count of three...}

{One.} Cassie said.

{Two.} I added.

{Three.} Jake finished and we all turned to face the mardrut.

I stared at the creature just as Buffy would stare at any demon before a fight to the death. I was ready to take my leap off the tower, to give everything in me attempt to save the world.

I moved my tail to speed forward, until I noticed Visser Three rising up. And up. Then I noticed what was doing it. A whale! Cassie's whale came to save us, and he brought a friend.

Two giant whales versus one alien moon freak equals scared little Yeerk.

{Haha, he's running away!} Marco cried as Visser Three turn to high tail it out of there.

{I don't think he likes whales too much.} I said.

The whale offered to give us a ride on their backs until we were able to morph again. As I warmed in the sun I started to dose off until the sun started to set and a chill came through me. Then there was a morph and a much easier swim back to where we hid our clothes.

I vaguely heard Jake and Marco talking about clothes and why human wear them. At a flutter above me I look to see a hawk. "Toby?"

{Dawnie... You found an Andalite!} He said his hawk eyes glittering.

"Yep, this is Aximili, or Ax for short as Marco has bestrode on him." I turn to Ax, "This is my cousin Tobias. He doesn't like to be called Toby, but as family I don't count."

"He's one of us." Jake told him.

{Sort of. I liked this morph so much I decide a permanent change was needed.}

{You're trapped?} Ax asked him.

{Yes}

The Andalite looked at each of us and landed back at Tobias, {You have suffered for the actions of my brother, for his gift.}

{Elfangor was your brother?} Tobias asked, {I stayed with him until the end.}

"Wait, what are we going to do with him?" Marco pointed at Ax.

"He could come stay with me on the farm; it's not all that different from the Dome ship." Cassie said.

"But we can't just go walking around with him." Marco said with a duh motion.

I watched as he asked to place his finger on her forehead, it took me a moment to realize what he was doing. As he moved to each of the Animorphs I figured he was somehow going to mix our DNA. And I knew that I couldn't be part it, I don't know what the monks did when they made me, don't ask, and I wouldn't chance hurting my new friend.

As he came to me I stepped back, "That is not a good idea." He looked hurt so I fibbed, kind of... "My DNA is messed up, a defect from in the conception. I don't think it is safe."

He gave a nod before stepping back to morph. We all turned around because he didn't know what sex he was going to choose, and when we turned around I found out that Jake and Marco did not do too great a job of describing clothing to him. So upon finding out he was male, and that talking was a new and interesting experience for him, the boys helped him dress.

I smiled at him and offered to help him learn to walk. It was nice, not being the only non-human. Even if no one knew.


	2. Chapter 2

AN- So... this story really is so fun to write. I skipped a book as I said I might. The Predator isn't really a book easily done from Dawn's POV. It is about things that Marco knows but Dawn wouldn't. So I hope you guys like this chapter and the next will be coming out in a couple of days. However, when I get to the mega-morphs I might take up to a week to type them up. They will also be the only chapters that are not in Dawn's POV. Review and tell me if there is a book that you would love to see because I can add them if they are not written already...

**Chapter Two- The Capture**

"You got stuck in a roach motel?" Marco teased Jake.

Goddess knows I couldn't stop laughing. Jake was telling us that he had tried to morph a roach to see if it was a good morph. We were worried about doing anymore insect morphs since a bad, bad experience with an ant morph. The others hated the hive mind set, it was much harder for them to fight it than me, and then there is the fact that we walked right into the wrong colony.

"I felt like such an idiot. I ran right onto the sticky paper and couldn't move." He said rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

"You could do a commercial, 'These things works, take it from roach-boy.' It would be perfect." Marco was a joker; he loved to make people laugh, so much like Xander. He smiled as he pushed his dark shoulder length hair behind his ear and shifted on the bale of hay. We were all piled into Cassie's barn, where her parents ran a wildlife rescue.

Ax was shifting next to me, and I think he still felt a little guilty for how our last mission went down. Hell, even I thought it was a bad idea. Sending out a Yeerk distress beacon in the hopes we could steal a ship to send ET home? Yeah that's going to end great... I told him as much too. I also told him that I have no home to go to, that at least he had something to look forward to.

Everyone but Cassie was smiling, she just looked upset, "You should have known better."

"Yeah, but I wanted to make sure it was a good morph for us." He replied.

We all stared as Cassie got up and pointed a finger in his face, "You don't get to just go off on your own just because you are our sort of leader."

"Wow, I really like the new Cassie." Rachel said. She was Cassie's best friend and couldn't be more different. Rachel's blonde hair was always perfect and her clothes always at the height of fashion. When you looked at her she could be a Cordelia, but she's not, Rachel is a thrill seeker. She is what Faith could have been, the perfect female warrior.

"Look Cass, I was just-"

"Uh-uh, no, you were not 'just' doing anything. And you won't do it again." She told him.

{Dude, I think this is where you grimace and nod like you are sorry.}Tobias told him from up in the rafters, ruffling his feathers.

"Right, I'm sorry." He looked down at his feet.

"So, how'd you get out?" I asked.

"Well, I could feel all the vibrations in the house and I realized that my mom and dad were up stairs. So I started to de-morph."

"But I thought you were behind the fridge." Rachel said.

"Yeah, well, it was tight, but as I grew I kind of pushed it out inch by inch. Everything was going great until my mom came down stairs."

We all leaned forward.

"So what'd you do? Did your mom see you? What did she say?" Cassie fired questions at him

"She asked me why I was behind the fridge, and why I had half a roach motel on my head." He said making us all laugh.

He had been testing out the morph because of his brother Tom, who was a Controller, was raising in the Yeerk ranks. Jake had been calling back some of the numbers his brothers has been calling. The problem was he had been talking to doctors, at the local hospital.

"If they are using the hospital to infest people while they are put under it will raise their numbers sky high." I said.

Marco's eyes widen, "Oh man, go in to get your tonsils taken out, leave with a slug in your head."

Yeah, it was bad.

~*~

After everyone left I followed Ax and Tobias out of the barn. I always spent a lot of my time off with Tobias since I sure as hell didn't want to go home to my uncle, he has a heavy hand it you get my meaning.

I watched Tobias fly over head for a while before turning to Ax, "I 'm sorry I was so hard on you before."

He turned his main eyes to look at me, {No, you were right. I was behaving like a fearful child, not a warrior, and because of that, I placed everyone in danger.}

"Yeah, but I think that I might have tried the same thing, if I had someone to go back to." I told him, "My mom died a few months ago and my sister followed not long after that. I overreacted because I was jealous, and that was stupid."

He didn't say anything so I kept going, "My sister, she died in a construction site too. She climbed up a tower that some crazy people had tied me up to and after she untied me she... Ah... Slipped on some my blood and fell."

{You were bleeding?} He asked, I had actually thought he wasn't listening until he said something.

"They had cut me, to bleed me out, thought it would end the world." I tried to keep it as close to the truth as I could. I was trying to gain some trust between the two of them, lying wasn't a great way to do that. I really wanted to be his friend, we were so alike. So alone in the world.

{Are humans always so pointlessly violent?} I didn't think he was trying to be insulting, he really didn't know anything about us.

"No, of course not. Most of us are kind, loving and just want happiness. There are others that fight for the goodness in other people, giving up their own goodness, their happiness, for others. And there is a small percent, the smallest, which are bad people." I looked at him and smiled, "I come from a long line of people willing to die for humans, I only hope I can compare to them in the end."

{You are very brave.} He said.

"Or very stupid."

~*~

Roaches. They pop up as fast as you can kill them, if you can kill them. There was a reason Buffy called vampires demon roaches. And so I really want to be one? Not really. Do I have to? Yeah, I kind of do. Jake stayed human so we could learn how to understand speech in a roach body; he said something about how it takes time.

Morphing is an odd and ugly experience and going insect is about ten times uglier. As I closed my eyes and concentrated on the roach DNA I felt my body start to shrink I keep getting smaller and smaller. Next I could feel my skin thickening and hardening as my bones moved out of me. Insects have exoskeletons, which mean their bones are on the outside and the inside is all gooey yuckyness. Out of my middle I felt two extra legs grow as my arms and legs shortened, causing me to fall forward on to my stomach. Lastly I felt two antennae grow out of my forehead...-ish, I don't think it is really a forehead at this point.

I moved my legs to make sure everything worked. Sometimes it doesn't, I have this screw-up morphing problem. It's not pretty.

{Okay, we're bugs; let's get this over with because I have an insane urge to step on myself.} Marco said.

We felt a few strange vibrations.

{Go ahead say something.} Rachel said.

The vibrations again, {Wait, I felt something.} Cassie said.

{Jake said 'Hello.'} Tobias told us.

{Jake say 'I'm a big dork.'}Marco said followed by some more vibrations, {Very funny, I don't know what you said but I know you.}

{You do know what a dork is right? I mean it light of some recent events...} I told them.

{What is a dork?} Rachel asked.

{It's a... a... Private part of a whale.} Cassie said, of course she would know, being our animal expert.

We spent the next hour learning to 'hear' the vibrations with the roach's body. Finally we de-morphed to talk about the impending mission.

"You know, we don't all have to go." Jake told us.

"What do you mean? Of course we all have to go, we are like the six musketeers." Rachel said.

"Seven now," I said looking at Ax.

{What is a musketeer?} Ax asked, but nobody answered.

"Look, normally I 'm all for staying out of trouble, but it just doesn't seem right for you to go off on your own."

"It just makes sense; one of us can do this." Jake said looking uncomfortable.

"You're afraid for Tom." I said. I knew this feeling, my sister may have never been my enemy, not counting when she was thinking about killing me to save the world, but I feared for her life every time she went out at night. The life span of a slayer is sadly short.

Jake whipped around to look at me, "I get it, okay? My brother is one of them, a Controller, but when it comes to it... If it comes to a fight..."

"So, no hurting Tom."Marco said.

"It's not that easy, he'll kill us." Jake look so sad, it almost hurt to see him like that.

I walked over to him and pulled on a strand of his light brown hair, "That is the creepy, bastard slug in his head, not Tom. I may have never meet the real Tom, but I don't need to if he is anything like his brother."

He gave a small smile as I sat back down. I really wished I could have met the real Tom. Not that I really would know the difference, a Yeerk is able to act exactly like its host because it can access the memories straight from the brain. Fooling everyone; family, friends, lovers, anyone and everyone. That is what makes this fight so damn hard. We can't be sure who isn't a Controller. And when we kill a Controller we are not killing just the Yeerk but most likely, an unwilling host.

"We don't have to do anything, not yet. We could just go there and look around, then decide." Cassie said.

"I know, a spy mission." Jake said. He didn't sound any better. Poor Jake.

~*~

Rachel and Cassie were taking about the shows they were missing during the mission and it made me feel kind of like being home. Like when Spike would complain about missing Passions or Buffy complaining about getting demon goo out of her clothes. Just felt right.

It was late, just after sunset, but not too late. And at the moment we looked like normal kids, just like we wanted to appear.

{This sucks, I am completely blind at night. I should have gotten stuck as a owl, at least then I could see now.}

"I don't understand how you run in these bodies. Bod. Boodyy. There is no tail to hold you upright. Up. Rittte." Ax was in human morph that he had obtained by mixing Jake, Cassie, Marco and Rachel's DNA. He had called it a frolis maneuver, and it made him a mix off all of them, a strange tri-racial cousin.

"It's easier when you have a lifetime of memories in your head." I told him. I have a habit of letting little things like that slip around the Andalite. I don't know why, maybe because I don't want him to feel completely alone, or maybe I'm just a complete idiot.

"I may need more practice." He said nodding. Ax liked exploring the world in human morph, mostly he loved exploring taste, a sense he does not have as an Andalite. He will eat anything you put in front of him, even things he shouldn't.

"I see it up ahead." Jake told us.

It was a building in the middle of some low-budget shops. There were a dozen or so cars in the parking lot and the windows were blacked out. This was The Sharing. The sign said they were building easier lives. Sure if you were an alien slug, or really enjoyed slavery.

~*~

We had gone into an abandoned building next to the sharing. I watched as Ax returned to his Andalite form. We couldn't go from one morph to another; we had to return to our original form first. The others found Ax a little frightening, but I didn't. Sure it was a different but I have seen some truly frightening things, like a group of human knights, I am talking medieval swords, spears, and chain-mail, who's only propose was to kill me. That's frightening.

"Alright let's do this already." Rachel said.

"Wait," Cassie said, turning to Rachel, "Remember this is a spy mission. That means no becoming elephants and stomping around creating hell."

Rachel had a elephant morph, and she like it. Like Buffy liked her troll hammer.

"You guys ready now?" Jake asked and a moment later we were six little roaches, just asking to be sprayed.

As we moved to the side in a fast little group,

{Cool, vertical rock climbing.} Rachel said as we reached the stairs.

I felt my little roach legs grabbed onto the holes and crevices like it was nothing. Up, swoop, across and up again.

{Man, you guys are creepy, and I really want to step on you. If I had shoes... or feet.} Tobias said. {Okay, you guys are almost out, I am going to fly to the street light where I can see you better.}

{Remember guys these are Yeerks, they think we are a group of Andalite Warriors and will be expecting morphs.} Jake told us, {So act like normal roaches.}

It took a minute but Cassie found a crack for us to slip through, which lead all the way into the building and in no time we were over hearing the meeting.

"...It is now time to strike a decisive blow in the earth invasion."

{Is this a Yeerk pep rally?} Marco asked. Making us giggle, in thought-speak.

{No, but here's hoping it is the evil meeting were the bad guys lay out their plain step by step. Followed by an evil cackle, of course.} I answered. Sure it sounded unlikely, but you'd be surprised.

{Okay everyone lets head out.} Jake said. And a moment too late said, {Not all at the same time!}

We all hurried down the wall. We were lucky, six cockroaches would have been noticed by humans, but a bunch of aliens intent in global takeover didn't notice what-so-ever.

{Ah, guys?} Tobias said from outside, {There is a limo that just pulled up. And a bunch of guys in suits are getting out, followed by this clumsy dude.}

After a minute we felt them walk in, {Thanks Tobias, we got them.} Jake told him.

"My brothers," A voice said. "May I present our great leader, Visser Three."

There was a gasp among the members. Us too, though ours were unheard.

"I know you may be confused, this is my human morph." The vibration that must have been Visser Three said.

Yeerks named themselves by rank; Visser Three was higher than Visser Five and Five was higher than Ecilthon 32, yadda, yadda. Visser Three was way up there because he is the only Yeerk with an Andalite body, giving him all the Andalite's morphing powers.

{Now way man, you mean Visser Three can morph human?} Marco asked.

{Duh,} I said. {Ax does bozo.} If I could I would have rolled my eyes.

"Our plan is in two parts, one is to take unwilling hosts from the hospitals. That is expected to bring in Two hundred Controllers a month. You have done very well collecting doctors and nurses for our control." Visser Three said.

{Two hundred.}Marco whispered.

"But the second part, the part very few know about up to this point, is the Governor will be in for a minor surgery in just a few days. When he checks out he will be one of us."

{This is bad.} Cassie said.

{Is the Governor some type of Prince?} Ax asked. To an Andalite a Prince was a general or a person of extreme power. That is why he calls Jake 'prince Jake.'

{Kind of, he controls much of the state, including the police and the National Guard.}

{Don't any of you follow politics?} Rachel asked, {Next year he is planning on getting a presidential nod.}

{Which means,} I said {In a couple of years we could have a Controller as the most powerful man in the world.}

{That would be bad.} Ax said. Yeah, he got the idea pretty well.

~*~

Things were going well. Until someone noticed us, and Visser Three pointed out that Andalites could morph in to small creatures as well.

Cassie and Ax made it to a crack in the wall, Marco was hiding out in a toilet, praying no one had to pee, Rachel rode someone's sock, and Jake was picked up by Tobias after he was sprayed with bug spray. I on the other hand was trapped. I was hidden under the rug, a very, very bad place to be when Controller seemed like they were river dancing around the room.

{Dawn, are you well?} Ax asked.

{Uh, not really.} I said, I didn't really want to think about it. {I'm...ah... Under the rug.}

{Dawn!} Cassie called, {Please tell me you are not serious.}

{I wish I wasn't.} I said. I could feel the Controllers getting closer I tried to hug the edge of the rug to move away from the flaying legs of death. But I was trapped, {Guys? I don't thin- Ahhh.} Blinding pain came through me with a pop.

{Dawn!}

{Dawn!} I heard so many voices but couldn't think, couldn't move. I should de-morph, I was not in good shape. But if I did the others would be discovered, I couldn't do that. I just couldn't. I saw this strange flash, a bit of green. Followed by nothing.

~*~

{Dawn.} I heard. {Dawn, you have to de-morph.}

"How did she get out?"

"Maybe she got stuck on someone's shoe. Look it doesn't matter, she is going to die."

{Die? She is going to be stuck in roach morph. Crippled roach. Dawn please, wake up.}

{Toby?} I was trying to make sense of things.

{Dawnie! You have five minutes. Please, de-morph!}

I felt myself start to change, after a while I could breathe, then move, and finally think.

"Goddess." I said sitting up. The others were quickly on me checking and prodding me to make sure I was completely human.

"I'm fine." I told them. "Is Jake okay? He was poisoned."

"I'm okay." I turned to look at him.

"Close calls, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah," He ran his hand through his hair. "We thought... I didn't think you made it."

"I'm hard to kill."

I stood up, we were in the basement again, where we started. "How'd I get here?"

"Roach-Marco found you as he was making his way back here; I de-morphed and picked you up." Cassie said.

"Thank you. Both of you." I told them. I really was grateful, wouldn't you be?

"Hey I should get home. If everyone is fine, if I don't my mom's gonna flip." Rachel said.

Everyone went their separate ways. As I got close to home I saw the TV flicker in the living room, maybe he drunk himself to sleep again. I eased the door open and went to walk up the stairs when I heard the voice. "Where the hell have you been?"

I froze, this was bad. He was drunk, but not so drunk he couldn't stand. "Studying with some friends."

"Hum, studying. You know I studied when I was your age." He reached out and stocked a strand of hair. I tasted bile in the back of my throat.

"Obviously not." I muttered. I knew it was a stupid thing to say, that is why I was expecting the strike way before it connected. So, what was I doing getting beat up by a drunken uncle? First, I couldn't go anywhere, I wouldn't abandon the others, they needed as much fighting power as they could get. Second, I knew perverts, sadly, and my uncle is one. Big time. I would rather get him angry and striking me then... other things.

Morphing heals wounds so none of the other knew. Except for Toby, he lived with us until he got stuck in hawk morph. He knew why I put up with this, but he didn't like it.

After the first blow he got bored and wobbled to his chair again, with a fresh beer, and I ran up stairs to my room. I morphed into my favorite morph, a pygmy owl. It was a little late for the owl to be out, since it was a owl that tend to stick to twilight hours but I needed the comfort. The owl reminded me of Buffy, it was small and cute, but it had sharp oversized, for its body, talons that dug deep.

It didn't take me long to get to Tobias' meadow. I landed on a branch next to him and looked down to see Ax below.

{I hope that is you, Dawnie and not the world's dumbest pygmy.} Tobias said.

"Hoot." I said out loud while I giggled in thought-speech.

{You okay?} Toby asked.

I landed and de-morphed. "Yeah, just can't sleep." I shrugged, "And lonely."

I sat with my back leaning against a tree and talked about nothing with the other two before I must have dozed off. I felt safe sleeping near them. Safer than at home, that's for sure.

~*~

Flies, that's what we became in order to save the Governor from infestation. However flies are ugly mofos, watching Cassie morph made Rachel throw up and everyone else cringe. I, however, have seen worse.

We jumped on Tobias' back so he could fly us to the hospital.

{Ahh, what is that.} Marco cried. Flies have compound eyes so everything is broken up and distorted.

{A flea.} Cassie said.

{What! Are you saying I have fleas?} Tobias asked.

{Ah... No, it jumped off, you know?} Marco lied to him.

{Aaaa... I'll find you some flea drops.} I thought about it, {I should find some for Ax too.}

{Okay when I say you guys jump off. Like paratroopers.}

{Didn't most the 101 st Airborne die during the first jump on D-Day?} I asked.

{Not a fact that needs to be brought up!} Marco whined.

{Okay, one...two... three, bail.}

It took a while and a lot of coaching from Tobias to get to an open window because every sign looked like a window to a fly.

Almost as soon as we enter Rachel commented, {I found the nursery. Lots of baby poop.}

{Alright, everyone look for a Yeerk pool. Everyone but Ax as been near one so look for the smell, or something that doesn't seem right to the fly.} Jake said.

{I smell lots of poop.} Marco said.

{Okay, lets split up. Dawn and Ax, you're with me. Cassie, take Marco and Rach.} Jake said.

As the others left, the three of us moved down the hall and were able to pick up a number of smells; banana, poop, sweat, poop, blood, poop. Kind of got a theme going.

{Hey! I smell something!} Cassie said.

{More poop?} Jake asked.

{No, something different. Like poop, but not.} She said.

{I smell it too.} Ax told Jake. I did too.

We couldn't get a hold of the others because they were out of thought-speech range, so we followed the smell to a room. After getting in through the crack at the bottom of the door we took survey of the room finding a large dome shaped object in one of the corners.

{That could be a Yeerk pool.} I said.

{Right, there are no people moving in the room. Ax de-morph, if anyone comes in you will be more use than a human.} Jake said.

{Yes, Prince Jake.}He said as he started to change.

{Don't call me Prince.}

{Of course, Prince Jake.}

I couldn't help the little giggle that came out.

Ax de-morphed and informed us that there was one unconscious person in the room. We de-morphed too and I had to keep myself from laughing. Both Jake and I were wearing skin tight clothes, his biker short and tight tee made him look like a freak. While my leggings and tight three-quarter shirt made me look like trailer trash.

We looked at the object in the corner, "It's a whirlpool for muscle therapy." I said. I spent a lot of time in hospitals when my mom was sick.

Jake went over and took the top off. Inside was a brown liquid filled with swimming brown slugs. Yeerks, in their natural state.

{Yeerks.} Ax said full of disdain and hate.{There must be a Kandrona nearby.}

A Yeerk could only survive for three days without drawing nutrients from a the rays of their sun. But they had found a way to recreate the rays, allowing them to take over the universe. They created the Kandrona which is near all Yeerk pools.

"Can they see us?" Jake asked.

{No, Yeerks are blind in their natural state.} Ax told him.

"What would happen if someone was to turn up the temperature, say... a lot?"

{It would kill them.} Ax said, but he seemed confused.

Jake walked over to the tank, "Ax, watch the door. Dawn, morph something that can do a lot of damage."

"Jake, what are you doing?" I asked, but I had a feeling I already knew.

"We are here to stop the Yeerk's plan; boiling a couple hundred Yeerks seem like a good place to start." He was bending down playing with the controls.

"That is murder, Jake." I said, grabbing his wrist. They're helpless, it... isn't right.

{This is war, Dawn.} Ax told me as Jake pulled his hand free, turning pool on to the highest setting.

"Andalite!" We turned to see a nurse standing in the door way. Ax was on her in a heartbeat and used the blunt side of his tail to knock her out but she was followed quickly by two guards. Jake must have set an alarm off because one of them had a gun.

I was trying to morph in to my leopard; it would be easier to get out, since it was faster, as a leopard rather than a croc. But I saw something, a gun pointed at a Jake. I took off, grabbing a half tiger morphed Jake out of the way and pulling a couple of strange were-cat looking creatures right into the Yeerk pool, full of dying Yeerks.

~*~

When I came to, I felt like I was being carried, in big harry arms... Marco. {A human?}

My head was hurting so bad, so bloody bad. I felt like Spike had driven a railroad spike into my skull. {Friends with a killer, huh?}

What was that?

"My... Head..." I heard Jake say.

{He's ours now too.} I heard the voice say again. {They are all human, huh? Except for Aximili.}

Marco set me down and I tried say thank you, but I couldn't. I tried to stand, but my body wouldn't let me. Instead I looked at Jake, who smiled back at me.

{He thinks he is lucky. But I am the one who really got the prize, right Dawnie?} The voice said. But I knew what it was now. A Yeerk, in my head.

{No!} I said. I tried to yell, to scream, to cry, but nothing happened.

{It is no use, Dawnie. I am you now. I control you, I have access to your memories.} The voice paused. {Which aren't real? What are you?} It asked.

{Nothing!} I answered, but he knew, all he had to do was look it up in my mind.

{The Key.} It laughed, {Oh, this is too good. Not only do I have a human with morphing powers, I have a weapon powerful enough to destroy the universe.}

I wanted the laughter to stop.

{Dawnie, are you okay? Come on neither you or Jake are talking. We are going to take you to the hospital.} Tobias said.

"Five by Five, Toby." It was my voice saying it but it wasn't me.

"I'm fine," I heard Jake say. I knew though, he had fallen in with me.

{I wonder who is in there.} The Yeerk said, {I am Eerith four-nine-nine. I was going to be a famous movie star, but I would much rather be here.}

{We should take you to a hospital, both of you.} Tobias said.

"No, I am fine. I was just in shock, okay?" Jake said. Or the thing in his head did.

"I just woke up. But I'm fine. Plus, if I went to the hospital it would be worse for me in the long run. You know that, Toby." My voice said.

{She's right,} Tobias said, {Our uncle...} He trailed off.

{Your cousin, Tobias, stuck in hawk morph. Related through your dead mother. Mother to the Slayer. Now dead. Willow, the witch. Tara, her girlfriend. We will make them ours, of course. Humm. Vampires? Really? Maybe useless, if the brain is dead, we have no use for the body.}

{Leave them alone!} I said. I could hear Jake talking about splitting up. No! I thought.

I could feel the Yeerk going through my head, no one noticed because I was normally so introverted. I felt a hand on my arm and I turned around to come face to face with Ax. He face was close to mine; I could see his large almond shaped eyes staring at me. It was strange seeing him so close. His eyes were beautiful, and his hand warm.

{Andalite!} He said it the same way Ax says Yeerks. I spent more time with Ax and Tobias than any of the others if anyone noticed...

But it was Jake that revealed himself; out of the corner of my eye I saw a look of hatred. And Ax saw it, with his stalk eyes, which were pointed right at Jake.

{Yeerks!} His tail blade came to rest a inch from Jake's neck, all while he still has a hold of my arm.

{Clever Andalite.} Four-nine-nine said.

"Are you crazy?" Marco asked.

{Prince Jake and Dawn have been taken. They are Controllers.} He said.

"Ax! You are out of it!" Rachel said.

I could feel the Yeerk wanted Ax to let me go. It didn't like Ax touching him, {I don't mind.} I told the Yeerk.

{Dawnie has a bit of a crush on the Andalite? Disgusting.} He spat the last part.

{They were both in the pool long enough to be infected. And you saw the look Prince Jake gave me. I am not human, so you tell me what was that look?} Ax looked at everyone.

"I didn't." The Yeerk said with my voice, "Aximili, I didn't."

I felt his hand tighten then loosen slightly. He wasn't as sure about me. Please Ax! Don't let him fool you.

Jake and the others we're talking about how weird Jake acted while I was still passed out. How they should keep him, both of us, Ax put in, for three days to be sure. All while Ax still had my arm, finally the Yeerk snapped. "Get off me, Andalite."

That made everyone freeze. "Well..." Rachel said.

{Oh, Dawnie.} Tobias said.

{If Dawn is a Controller than Prince Jake would be as well.} Ax said.

"But what do we do? How will we keep them for three days?" Rachel asked.

"Right," Jake said. "My parents will go to the cops if I disappeared, there will be searches, posters, and the five o'clock news, you know?"

{No one will notice Dawn missing.} Tobias said.

Go Toby! Yeah for being unloved trash.

{Except for your vampire. What are you going to do then?} The Yeerk asked.

{By then you'll be dead.} I told him.

"There may be a way," Cassie said. "For Jake. If Ax morphed Jake he could take his place."

After Rachel and Cassie each took one of my arms as Ax touch Jake on the forehead. A moment later Jake twitched, "Andalite filth!" He yelled.

"And now we know for sure." Marco said. And I did a happy dance... In my head.

~*~

Tobias showed the others a place in the woods to store us for the tree days. My Yeerk didn't seem too bothered, he thought he would just morph and run away. Jake's most likely thought the same thing. But they had two people on us at all time, plus Tobias. Jake tried first, but was caught by Rachel. Then they tried it as the same time. However they had to many tells while trying to communicate with each other to plan an escape, and Cassie knew what was going on.

It pissed them off, knowing that the smallest animals couldn't get far, but the strongest were easiest to track.

We got attacked by a local wolf pack when we tried to become wolves. Jake tried ant only to, once again, be the wrong ant. Ouch.

{You think you will come out of this just like you were before?} The Yeerk was getting hungry, weak. {If I die, than I will tell them what you really are. How will they take that Dawnie? That you are not human, not even real.}

{Ax isn't human.} I told him. But really I was scared.

He showed me myself tied to the tower, bleeding, opening a portal to hell. {And how will they take you being the end of the world?} She showed me Buffy jumping, {You killed her, Dawnie. You'll kill them.}

I heard Jake call out in pain. No, not Jake, the Yeerk. {It has begun, the fugue.} The Yeerk said. Jake was in the barn with Cassie and Rachel while I was out with Tobias and Ax.

{This will not be pleasant, Dawn} Ax told me.

{But it will be over soon, Dawnie.} I could hear the tears in my cousin's words, even if he couldn't cry as a hawk.

Pain swept through the Yeerk. "What do you care, Tobias? Dawn isn't even your cousin."

{Is that the best you have, Yeerk?} Tobias asked. Please don't...

Another bit of pain, "She is a altered clone, Andalite. That is why she did not want to be part of your Frolis. The human's memories have been altered to include her, to hide her."

{He is lying!} Tobias exclaimed.

But I could see Ax thinking, "She keeps so much from you. The Key." The Yeerks laughter was mixed with painful gasps. I couldn't feel his pain, but I was watching him destroy my life. That was painful enough.

I saw things, the lives of the Yeerks other hosts, its home world. What it felt like to be a Yeerk, the blindness, the loneliness, the bland nothingness of their life before a host. As the Yeerk was beyond pain I saw something else. Buffy?

"You are doing good, Dawn. Remember, Slayer's blood." She was happy. I could feel it I knew it. I love you, Buffy...

~*~

I opened my eyes; I was the one to open my eyes.

I looked up at Ax standing near me. {It is over.} He said.

I sat up and saw the dead Yeerk and wanted to smash it in to little piece. Bring it back to life, only to kill it again. "Jake?" I asked.

{Woke up before you and Cassie took him home. We told her we'd take care of you.} Tobias paused, {We didn't tell them.}

They were distant, unsure. I think I was too.

{What are you?} Ax asked.

"I don't really know. The Key. A ball of energy that a bunch of monks decided to make human." I shrugged. "I didn't know for the longest time. And I didn't tell you because I was scared, that you would..." I trailed off.

They were silent for a while.

{Dawn. That's what you are, you're Dawn.} Tobias said.

I smiled up at him, before looking at the Andalite. He was smiling too, with his eyes.

"So... Ah... you have questions?"

{Oh, you bet we do.} Tobias said.

I didn't tell them about vampires, or witches, or the slayer. I just told them about myself, about The Key. Ax was amazed, he seemed to think it was placed on earth by some advance race and it ended up in the hands of humans. Whatever I am, I have friends, and a war to fight.

Oh, and next time I say boil the bastards alive. Just in case you were wondering.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own BTVS or Animorphs. Any line or scenes from the books or the show are not used for monetary gain.

A/N- So this took much longer to get out than I planned. It had to do with my broken hard drive and complications. But it is nice and long, so...

The Stranger-

Sometimes I wonder just how I ended up like this. After all I am not the chosen one, I was never the one with a greater purpose, right? I always felt I would live my life hidden in the shadow of my big sister, nothing but a shadow to the slayer.

But here I was, helping an alien nail boards together to make a shanty for him out in the middle of a national reserve. After I brought both Ax and Tobias flea drops I found out from Tobias that Ax needed something to give him a little protection from the weather and to hold a strangely growing broken electronic collection.

"Ouch!" Xander 101; pay attention to the hammer when you're swinging it.

{Dawn?} I saw Ax take a step towards me but I held up my other hand.

"I'm fine, my thumb's not, but I'm good." I placed my injured digit in my mouth and continued to dance from foot to foot in the universal 'this hurts' dance. Slowly I held it in front of me and bent it carefully making sure it wasn't broken, once I was sure it was just bruised I went back to the dreaded hammer this time taking careful swings and paying complete attention.

"When do we head out to meet with the others?" I asked out of the corner of my mouth that didn't have nails in it.

{We should leave now, but if we do the structural integrity of this wall will be faulty. The building needs...} As he continued with his speech I picked up a couple of two by fours and used them to prop the walls in place. His main eyes blinked at me, {That works, given it is a very basic.}

"Basic and temporary." I told him, "Come on, I can hear Marco's bad jokes from here."

Ax ran ahead liking to make an entrance; he liked doing that, like Spike.

"Hey Ax, how's it going?" I heard Marco asked

{Wonderfully! I found Dawn roaming around earlier and got caught by one of those big cats, what are they called?} He asked moving his stalk eyes behind to look at me.

"Cougar." I told him

"Are you guys alright?" Rachel asked looking between to two of us. I could tell she was wondering what I was doing walking around the forest.

{Of course. I didn't hurt it,} He looked at Cassie, {Not fatally at least.}

"I don't think it will be trying to hunt Ax anymore." I told them. After a moment I smiled and shrugged "But you know those middle age woman..."

I could see Jake covering his mouth with his hand trying not to laugh while Cassie glared at me. I knew that if I could see Ax's face he would be confused. Ax didn't have a human's sense of humor, he really didn't understand it. Plus this joke was full of slang, something that his translator chip had trouble with.

"I swear, you and Rachel belong together. You two can get married and jump into live volcanos together." Marco said to Ax. I saw Rachel fidget and look up at Tobias. Oh, well I didn't see that one. Sure I always thought Tobias as cute in a sweet, shy Harry Potter in the cupboard way, but he was my cousin... Sort of... Rachel was gorgeous, popular and could have any boy in the school but she was looking at my hawk of a cousin.

I glanced at Ax out of the corner of my eyes and saw him looking at me, it was my turn to fidget on the little stump I had sat my tush on. I felt a blush creep up into my face until Marco's words came through to me, "We found an entrance to the Yeerk pool."

"A way into the Yeerk pool?" Rachel asked, "Where?"

The Yeerk pool was like a giant city, it was where the Yeerks feed, where they converged, and organized. Oh, and it was under the high school. Yep, there is a pattern there and it proves one thing, High School is evil. The hellmouth in Sunnydale? Under the high school's library. Yeerk pool? Under the high school... And half the town.

"Tobias and I followed Chapman around for the last three days." Chapman was our Assistant Principal and a Controller, "Tobias followed him in the air while I trailed behind him in buildings." Marco told us.

Jake looked kind of angry, so I guessed he had been kept out of loop. Since he was our leader he liked to know all the ins and outs of our processes. But I had a feeling Marco didn't tell Jake of his plans for the same reason Tobias didn't tell me. After being infected with a Yeerk and being held captive for three days until the Yeerks in our heads died, the two of us needed a break. Or so Tobias told me.

"So where is it?" Rachel asked. Once again she was ready to rush in guns blazing; it was a part of her, this part of Rachel that was always searching a new conquest, a new challenge, a new high.

"Get this," Marco said, leaning forward for dramatic effect. "It's in The Gap, in the mall. The dressing room to be exact. People go in with arms full of clothes and they never come out."

{Through The Gap they don't. But whenever a movie ends at the muli-plex more people come out than went in.} Tobias told us.

"The mall and the movie theater? Goddess, they take their pop culture seriously don't they?" I mumbled.

"So, we know where to go," Jake said, "What do we do now?"

{Attack!} Ax exclaimed.

Cassie shook her head, "We tried that before, it didn't work out too well. There are tons of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons down there. Not counting the Human-Controllers, and the possibility of Visser Three."

"We got our butt handed to us. And that is when Tobias got stuck in hawk morph." Rachel said.

"I told you we should have just set the gym on fire. Or blew it up." I put in.

Everyone gave me the same look they gave me last time. It said HUH? Well, it DID work for Buffy.

"What about the Kandrona?" I asked Ax. I had that Yeerk in my head for three days and while I don't know about Jake's captor, mine was very talkative.

Ax shook his head, {It may not be in the Yeerk pool, it could be many miles from the pool.}

"For us that don't know, huh?" Marco asked raising his hand.

{The Kandrona is a device that acts like a miniature version of the Yeerks' home sun. They need to feed off the rays and could be anywhere that is above the pool.}

"If this Kandroma is the real weakness why don't we spy in the pool? Maybe we can find where it is." Rachel said.

"How big is this thing?" Jake asked

{It depends how many pools it feeds, it could be as large as one of your houses or the size of a automobile.}

"A car, man, I think a couple of kids can destroy something the size of a car." Marco said.

"But is it worth it? How bad are going to hurting them is we destroy this mini-sun?" Cassie asked sifting slightly.

We all looked at Ax for an answer.

{If they had a spare, not that much. They will also have a back up on board the mother-ship, so it will not wipe them out entirely.} He said making everyone look disappointed. {However it is not possible to ship every controller back and forth every three days.}

"What would Visser Three do?" Jake asked.

Rachel answered, "He is ruthless. He would save as many as he could and let the rest die."

{Yes.} Ax said, {And it would weaken them greatly.}

"Wait!" I said standing up, I walked in front of both Ax and Jake, "What will happen to the host's of the dead Yeerks?"

Ax's main eyes widened, I don't think he thought anyone would bring that up. {They will be held for re-infection. And if they are unable to supply the needed amount of Yeerks-}

"They will be killed, won't they? Starting with the unwilling, right? Because they are harder to control. Innocent people, like Jake's brother."

"Dawn!" I felt Marco grabbed me arm, "Leave Tom out of this."

"She is right." Jake said. "Let her go Marco. She isn't out of line, she is making a point."

Marco let me go, "Who will be killed first, if they needed to?" I asked Ax.

{People that will do unnoticed. Those without family or important jobs.} He was looking down, was he ashamed of not telling us this possible side effect? {They may be able to re-infect the old host, but they will not release them, and it will greatly stop their recruiting of new hosts.}

Jake thought for a moment, "We go."

"Jake!" I said throwing my hands in the air.

"My brother is one of them, Dawn. I don't want him to die, but I don't want my mom and dad to be Controllers. And I know Tom wouldn't either."

I was decided against. "Alright. Fine. We'll go back. Yahoo!" At my last sarcastic comment I waved my hands in the air before headed back towards Ax's unfinished house thing-y. I needed to take my mind off things and hitting my fingers with a hammer a few times seemed like a good idea.

I didn't know Ax had come back until he was handing me nails as I finished off the last of the ones I grabbed earlier.

{War is hardest on the greatest warrior.} He told me.

"I know." I growled, and kicked one if the wood boards on the ground. "I know that innocents die, that there is nothing we can do. Okay? I've been there, Ben is Glory, Glory is Ben."

He didn't know what I meant, but I think he got the idea. {It is sometimes hard to figure who is the enemy when you don't yet know who you are fighting against.} He tilted his head and he started to put on the ceiling. {You have mentioned this Glory before.}

I stopped and set the hammer down, "She was the one who was looking for The Key. She was from another dimension and needed a host to survive; she got Ben, a nurse that had nothing to do with... He was innocent and they only way to kill Glory was to kill him." I looked at my hands, "I think Giles killed him. Spike told me he did, but his chip... Well, he couldn't."

Ax moved his hand in a nervous motion, {Alternate dimensions are a very specialized area, what I know is very limited. It takes an enormous amount of energy to access any dimension other than our own, and it is mostly chance were it leads.}

"But The Key can, or at least it can tear down the walls to all dimensions so it makes sense that it could pick one out."

{It is what you can do outside of inter-dimensional travel that makes me wonder.}

Ax doesn't believe in magic and that all things can be explained by science. He says that The Key is some sort of energy woven into a mortal body, allowing the energy to be accessed during certain times. He also thinks I could learn to control it.

If he is right, if magic has a science behind it... What would it mean?

~*~

There was a stupid buzzing sound and it wouldn't shut-up. I moved my hand in search of the offending cell phone but I eventually had to sit up and turn on the light to find it hidden under a pair of jeans I wore, like, a week ago.

"Hello?" I answered my eyes still partly closed from the invasion of a 70 watt bulb.

"Hi, Niblet." It was Spike. Of course it was Spike who else would call at three in the morning.

"Hey Spike." I said over a yawn.

"Did I wake you, pet?"

"Naw, I'm usually up at three in the morning."

"Three? I thought there was a... Oh wrong bloody way."

I giggled, "You always do that Spike."

There was a moment of silence when neither of us said anything.

"Are you doing good there? You're sounding off, distant." I could tell he was concerned, but what could I do? 'Hey, do any of our friends have slugs in their heads? Because somehow I got thrown in a war against alien slugs.'

"I miss you guys." I told him, "I miss her." I whispered the last part, but I knew he heard.

I heard a small choking sound and I knew he did too.

I cleared my voice, "No luck finding a new slayer?" They had been looking to see if another slayer was called after Buffy died. But no one seemed sure whether Faith was still the only one now or not.

"No, lucky no one has found out the slayer's a bloody robot yet." I couldn't help but thinking that Ax could probably repair Buffy-bot about a million times faster than Willow could. "I ah, sent you a package. Just, you know, some more money and a couple of books with stuff about The Key, and I carved you a few stakes, just in case."

I let out a small laugh, "Thanks, Spike."

"I'll let you get back to bed. Miss you, Bit."

"Miss you too."

I heard the click as Spike hung up. It hurt that I didn't have anything to talk about with them. I just didn't know if there was anything I could do about it.

Later that morning when I went down stairs sure enough I found the package Spike sent sitting on the table. Every time I got a package my uncle went through it first, luckily Spike stole enough money from other people's mail to hide the money and the stakes where no one would look. It was a big box, with a number of books in other languages, some clothes, a few stuffed animals, letters from everyone, and a number of other items. I grabbed the box and took it up to my room, closing the door behind me. I set the box on the floor beside me and I slide down the door to sit with my back against it. How was I expected to live in two worlds? Why did it have to be me? Why'd I kill her?

The world needed her, it didn't need me. I wasn't the chosen one; I was the one with a destiny, with a gift.

I was crying so hard I didn't hear Tobias fly through the window I kept open just for him.

{Dawnie.}

I looked up to see the hawk resting on my windowsill, "I'm fine." I said wiping the tears from my eyes.

{You got some more things from your friends?}

When he was still human we shared a room in the small house and he saw me breakdown every time the Scoobies sent me something. "Yeah. Umm... They sent me some more money so we can finish Ax's house thing-y.."

I stood up and started collecting things to get ready to go; I needed a shower before I go. I lifted a my backpack and started to place clothes in it.

"Go tell Ax I'll be there as soon as I get back from the store."

{You're not going to school?} He asked tilting his head to the side.

"Not today." I turned away collecting a towel.

{How long has it been since you have been to school?} He asked.

I threw my things on the dresser that I was looking for a clean pair of underwear in, I couldn't handle this right now. "What does it matter? When was the last time you went to school?"

I knew why he hadn't gone to school; it wasn't like he could go to school as a hawk. And Tobias really liked school, like I used to, before I found out about being The Key. I took a breath, "Darn it Toby, I didn't mean it. I just..."

{I know, it seems like everyone is having a hard time.} I wanted to ask him what he meant be he turned and flew out the window.

"Damn!" I picked up one of the stuffed animals from the box and threw it across the room. It thumped dully against the wall from the stake hidden in it, reminding me of my strange double life.

~*~

Later that evening we all meet up at the mall. So to speak. Cassie and Rachel meet up in the food court and were heading for The Gap's dressing room right now. I was already there and could hear two of them arguing over clothes.

The boys were in the arcade trying to stop Ax from eating everything in sight. I couldn't hear them or anything but I knew that Ax had no sense of taste in his natural form and it tended to make him a little insane. That and he acted completely retarded. In fact if we put Ax and Anya together people would think they were brother and sister with some similar mental disability.

Even though they looked nothing alike. His human morph has Cassie's dark curly hair and Marco's slightly tan skin and Jake's blue, blue eyes. From Rachel he got his height and his strangely pretty, almost too perfect features.

I was already in roach morph, which we had decided would be the best for a spy mission, and I couldn't help being impatient. {Guys?}

I was climbing around the bottom of the stalls looking for the others.

{Cassie and I are done.} Rachel told me.

{Eppp, is that you?} I asked as I accidentally knocked another roach off the wall.

{No, that was me, thanks by the way.} Marco practically growled.

{Sorry.} I said honestly, I always seemed to be pissing him off and I didn't know why.

A moment later we were joined by Ax and finally Jake, who had collected all the clothes we left behind.

We hugged close to the wall waiting for a Controller to come in and open the way to the Yeerk pool. When in roach morph humans looked like huge giants and having been squished last time I was in roach morph I can tell you those giant feet are the scariest part. That is why when someone came into the dressing room and the roach brain scream 'run, run, run' I wanted to agree.

But I waited until the Controller walked to the mirror, and a moment later there was a strange pop sound. In seconds six little roaches torn after the Controller, the scent came up from below. It was like being in a cave, a damp grainy smell with the edge of mold. It would have been called an earthy smell if it wasn't for the strange pungent after odor. There was nothing like this on earth, this was the Yeerk pool.

The roach was close to blind, but that did nothing to quell the memories of the last time we were here. There would be Hork-Bajirs everywhere guarding against escape, or suicide attempt. Hork-Bajir could give most demons a run for their money, and I've seen some scary looking demons in Giles' books. They were about seven feet tall and their green bodies were covered with massive razor like blade on their head, wrists, knees, ankles and tail. They were lizard like creatures and since the last lizard like creature I knew tried to bleed me from a tower, I reserve judgment. Not that I have ever meet a real Hork-Bajir, just Yeerk controlled ones. All Hork-Bajir are unwilling Controllers.

Then there were the Taxxons. There is a demon out there that looks just like them, I know there is because I remember Buffy complaining about how she couldn't get it's goo out of her hair. They were like giant, I mean person sized, bugs. They had the long soft body of a worm with dozens of tiny funnel shaped legs, and the appetite of a gazillion newbie vamps. I still didn't understand why any creature would have such a hunger; it was so bad that the Yeerk inside their head could barley control it. They are all willing Controllers; they gave themselves to the Yeerk when they were promised a variety of meats from other worlds.

We crawled up and down the stairs and into the main cavern of the Yeerk pool. There were two piers over the pool. Pier one was where Controllers calmly walked up to the pool and the Yeerk wiggles its way out of its host's head. This is where you would discover who is a willing Controller and who is unwilling. The willing will walk over to what almost looked like a staff room, and they would watch TV, eat, whatever they wanted.

The unwilling will be placed in cages, their cries could be heard even in my roach body. Some cried to be set free, some cried to die, while others seemed beyond hope. I remember the looks on their face from last time, and I had only seen looks like that one time. When we were standing over the body of my broken sister, their broken slayer.

The second pier is where the Yeerks reentered their host. The willing would walk up to the pier and place his ear in the muddy looking liquid and allow one of those things in its ear, and around it's brain. The others are dragged over by a Hork-Bajir and forced back into imprisonment within their own head.

{We've used almost half of our time, so now what?} Cassie asked as we reached the edge of a wall.

{Remember the storage in the back? The building that held some AC stuff and files? Well there may be more stuff there, including the Kandroma.} Jake pointed out.

{That's great but I can't see more than a few inches in front of me, how are we going to find these buildings?} Marco asked.

{I smell french fries.} I told them.

{Thank yooou, Dawn} I could feel the eye roll that Marco would be doing if he had been human.

{What I mean is where the is french fries there are probably humans, and that is most likely where these buildings are since I don't think they have a McDonald's hidden on the bottom the damn Yeerk pool.} I hate that they think I am an idiot just because I say things they don't understand. Nearly everything I say makes sense, to me.

{I smell it, too.} Cassie said most likely coming to my defense. Cassie really had a kind heart, and was trying to ease the tension.

{Okay,} Jake said, {Follow the fries!} He said with a laugh.

We followed the smell, which was really easy because roaches are like scent hounds when it comes to finding food. We got through the wall using tiny cracks and soon found ourselves in a bright room, full of noise, and footsteps.

{There are too many voices I can't make anything out.} Rachel said.

{I smell humans.} Ax felt the need to put in.

{Humans don't smell.} Rachel said, but it seemed like she was only half joking.

{Sure they do. But not bad, in fact humans are one of the better smelling creatures in the universe.} He replied.

{So we got humans and french fries. Please tell me Dawn wasn't right and there isn't a McDonald's in the Yeerk pool.} Marco said.

{I am always right.} I told him, {But I think this is some type of lunch room. Maybe if we cling on the bottom of one of the tables we could hear the conversations better.}

We crawled over to one of the table legs when a very, very large, like ginormous large, shadow fell over us.

{That doesn't smell like human.} Ax said confused.

{No it's not... But I've smelt it before...} Rachel said I could tell she was trying to remember the smell so I looked with my horrible roach eyes at what was in front of me.

Wait! I've seen that tree thing, when I was in my salt-water crocodile morph. {Taxxon!} I cried, {The leg is a Taxxon leg.}

{EWW. I hate those.} Rachel said and for a moment I could see a Buffy saying the same thing. Only her hair was in a long bob and a darker blonde. Huh?

{Look out!} Rachel yelled but no one was fast enough and the Taxxon swept each and every one of us up in his bright, red, sticky frog like tongue.

{What is happening?} Cassie asked her voice showing her fear.

{It's going to eat us!} I cried.

{I can't... I can't get lose.} Jake said.

We headed into its mouth, with nothing we could do but be an alien's after dinner snack.

Then, when I was expecting death, there was nothing. Everything was still, including the Taxxon.

I felt myself demorphing, and I had no control over it.

The others were freaking out and I knew I should be too, but something seemed too familiar about this. Something I can feel but I didn't understand. I followed the others when Jake suggested we run but I had a feeling it wouldn't help. We were in some kind of vision and we would see only what we were meant to. That was how these things worked, right?

"Oh! Tobias." I turned to see Rachel run at my cousin. Only he wasn't a hawk but the human boy I knew.

His messy hair and sweet eyes were just like they were last time I saw him.

"Hey!" I said hitting him in the arm, "What's up with this, Toby."

He shrugged, "I don't know, one moment I was flying the next... Here I was."

{Time stopped.} Ax said, {Except for us.}

"Is this a Yeerk trick or something?" Marco asked crossing his arms.

{Yeerks can do nothing like this. This is beyond even Andalites.} Ax told us.

HUMILITY, FROM AN ANDALITE?

The voice came from everywhere. I've never heard a voice like that before, but this feeling I got, I've felt that. Standing on the tower looking down at the portal my blood had opened. I saw Ax go still and a fearful look came to his face.

AXIMILI-ESGARROUTH-ISTHILL HAS AN IDEA AS TO WHO I AM, ALTHOUGH DAWN IS A CLOSE SECOND.

{Ellimist!}Ax cried.

At the same time I asked, "Whistler?" That just didn't seem right. Actually, what I had been thinking was with my luck the balance demon would show up right about now.

DON'T BE FRIGHTENED. I WILL APPEAR IN PHYICAL FORM TO EASE YOU.

There was a opening in the air and he stepped. He was humanoid. Two arms, two legs, a head where a human head would be. His skin was glowing blue, as if he were a light bulb that had been painted over so that light still shone from him.

He seemed like an old man, but with a force of energy that was definitely not frail. His hair was long and white. His ears were swept up into points. His eyes were black holes that seemed to be full of stars.

"Your Andalite friend is right, I am called an Ellimist." He looked at me, "I said almost Dawn..." He paused, "And no, unlike Whistler, I do not think my ribcage would work well as head wear."

"Oh, my god! He speaks Dawn." Marco said is mouth hanging open.

"Calm, Aximili." He said to a shaking Ax. "Your human friends fear me not."

{They have no idea.} He said.

"Neither do you." The Ellimist said sadly.

"Okay, someone fill in the non-crazy humans." Marco said holding his hand up.

"I don't understand." Rachel put in like she was proving she wasn't crazy.

"You can't begin to understand what I am." He told her, and while I don't think he meant to, he made her look scared.

{They are all-powerful.} Ax said. {The can cross the entire universe in a moment, make worlds disappear, and stop time and that is just what we know of.}

"I cannot cross all dimensions or blend them into one." It seemed like an innocent comment, a blank statement. But it meant something much more to me; I saw Ax and Tobias look as me.

"See he isn't all that much. Doesn't look it either." Marco said.

{Don't be a fool. He has no physical form. He is everything and everywhere. Time and space, this planet even.}

"Why did you bring us here?" Jake asked. "Why is Tobias human again?"

"To play games. Like they always do." I said crossing my arms.

"Dawn, too young to know so much. It is what happens when the chosen overlap." He said to me before turning to the others. "I am here to give you a choice."

"A choice? For what?" Rachel asked.

"What you want to be the fate of your race." He told us. "Of the human race."

"That's all? Well that's nothing new." Marco said rolling his eyes.

"We do not interfere with action of other races," He stopped as I coughed loudly only to continue. "But sometimes when a race is close to extinction we choose to save it. To give it a second chance. This planet is a very beautiful planet and we love life, life is something this planet has in abundance."

For a moment I felt a pull on my scars, on my belly, and we, all seven of us where in the ocean. We were dry but we could see the life that moved all around us.

We were in some kind of coral reef. Schools of fish rushed past us while sharks roamed and a sting ray came up from its hiding place in the sand to float past us. The water was so clear the sun made streaks through the coral dancing off the plant life that grew between them.

AMAZING.

It was.

The world moved again and we could see a hippo bathing in the river while a pride of lion watched, wondering if it would scare the pack of antelopes close enough for the lionesses to grab an easy dinner.

The other animals ran, moved at a pace that stopped you from blinking, afraid you'd miss something. It was a wild and yet lazy sunny afternoon.

LOOK.

Then there was the rain forest. The green was shocking, it was the trees, it grew off the trees and covered the ground. The sounds of a million creatures, from bird to insects could be heard. Yet they blended together in such a way that it made it impossible to place any one sound. And the smell of flower and a sweet almost fruity smell overwhelmed me, and the others too, I was sure.

NO WHERE ELSE IS THERE SUCH SIGHTS. SUCH VARIETY, MORE THAN ANY OTHER PLANET.

Then it was time to show us ourselves. Humans. There were cities and villages; there was dancing and music, a soccer game in England and a meeting between politicians.

VERY PRIMITIVE. CRUDE. BUT CAPABLE OF SO MUCH MORE.

There were paintings, art, books and a poem. The poem... Wait, I've seen that hand writing before.

"Spike." I said, and it was as if our view panned out. And I could see him sitting at a counter in the Magic Box, writing in a book.

But before I could reach out and touch him we were back at the Yeerk pool.

"Was that guy in leather writing a love poem?" Marco asked trying to joke. I glared at him and knew he must have not heard me when I said Spike's name.

"What is all this about?" Jake asked.

"Humans are endangered. The Yeerks are sentient creatures too, and they will continue to infect humans until all that are left are what you call Controllers."

He was saying we were going to lose.

I found myself deep in thought with myself. Still his words came through, he wanted to take us to a safe place and let us and some others be the last of the humans. But why show Spike then? He was a Vampire, not human anymore. Because he wanted me to say no? If I left Spike would die, they all would. Yeerks would have no use for creatures like Spike or Angel, and Giles would kill the other in order to save them. My gut told me that.

"No." I said at last. Cassie was the only one to say yes. But I felt the need to say my vote, even if Tobias, Rachel, and Marco already said no, even if they already knew that I would vote with my cousin.

"You know what I don't like? I don't like being told what is going to happen. Can you see the future? Really? I don't think you can." Jake told him, he looked at me, at the others, before Cassie.

"If you guys vote no, than I will stick with you." She said.

I WILL BE BACK TO GIVE YOU THE CHOICE AGAIN. There was a pause and the others were gone. AND YOU, DAWN, HAVE ANOTHER DECISION TO MAKE.

But I was back with the others before I could ask what. The problem was the others were still being swallowed by a Taxxon. And so was I. Damn.

{Demorph!}Jake cried.

Oh, I really didn't need to be told twice. I kept bumping around in the strange goo that was the Taxxon's insides and hitting the others.

{I can't breathe!} Rachel cried, the others where farther in the morph than I was and they needed air already.

{Ax! Cut us out!} I cried hoping he had his tail already.

Just as my chest was human enough to need air the Taxxon burst, giving me air. And the group of us ran before the frozen controllers, this time frozen in shock, could bring their thought together and... Well, move.

We slid in the slime that covered our bodies as we rushed down the hall. Ax cut down the few Hork-Bajir that stepped in the way after the shock wore off.

"Any one that can, morph we need firepower." Jake told us.

"The drop shaft." Marco called. The drop shaft is like an alien elevator, but with no floor. It used some kind of anti- gravity thing to send you to the level you wanted to go to.

I morphed into my croc as fast as I could. I could see Rachel becoming a bear next to me. As the Hork-Bajir Controllers ganged up on Ax, an Andalite, who is their most hated enemy, I crawled around and grabbed a Controller and started to roll. I had an advantage because when in battle the enemy tended not to stare at the ground, and by the time they would noticed what was going on I already had them in my jaws. I knocked down others with my roll and felt bones break under my 20 foot body of armor like scales and muscles.

I could see flashes of Ax's tail as he took out the distracted Controllers. But I knew more where coming and one brave Hork-Bajir was trying to go Stone Cold on me and play Dundee.

I heard a roar. It was Rachel, and she was tearing through Controllers like it was nothing. I also saw a flash of orange and knew that Jake had joined in tiger morph.

{Dawn! Go!} I heard after another Hork-Bajir was thrown off me. I started to demorph before I even got to the shaft.

I knew before I saw them get out that Rachel had let herself get out of control. I watched as she demorphed and broke down, as her cousin and best friend comfort her. I couldn't help be feel a little jealous. Wouldn't you?

~*~

After school the next day, yes I went if I miss more than three days in a row they call home, we met up in Cassie's barn. Ax didn't come and I was dozing in and out on a slope of blankets that were stacked in the corner. Everyone was angry. Rachel had skipped school and spent the afternoon flying, which made Jake mad, which pissed Rachel off, who was angry at Marco because she hated his jokes, and he was mad at me because... Ah, I missed that part. It was an out moment.

Finally having enough I opened my mouth to speak but a voice interrupted me.

I TOLD YOU I WOULD GIVE YOU ANOTHER CHOICE.

"Oh, no." Macro moaned.

I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT YOU DO NOT WISH TO SEE.

The six of us and Ax, who, if you remember, was not with us, were suddenly standing in a field.

"Back to this again." Rachel said.

Tobias looked at his human hands, "Seems like it."

Ax moved around nervously his hooves making faint plopping sounds. I tried to smile up at him, but I don't think I pulled it off. I felt it too, something was off and I just couldn't put it onto words.

"He's giving us another chance to change our minds."Rachel said almost like she was in awe.

Jake, who was been looking around, his head moving back and forth since we got her asked, "Where are we? It seems familiar, but..."

It was Tobias who guessed, "We're at the school."

"No way!" Jake said. But I knew he was right. This was not the first time I've seen a destroyed school and that is what we had here.

Only we were in the future. The future were the Yeerks won and was distorting our planet bit by bit. All humans were Controllers, so we didn't stand out, after Ax morphed human.

The walk around had me worried, where was Spike, and Willow, Xander, Giles, Angel, hell where was Cordy?

I couldn't seem to keep my mind on the matters at hand; there was too many things that worried me. I followed the others but stayed silent.

We were somewhere in the middle of the town when I got a bad feeling about a bug-fighter, they were a Yeerks battle fighter like an F-16, that had landed. Especially since Ax was currently pretending to be Visser Three, One now according to the Yeerks we had spoken to.

As the real Visser Three, One, stepped out I knew we were screwed. But it was the woman that stepped out beside him that really got our attention. Her hair blonde was short and she wore no makeup, yet she was still beautiful, still perfect.

"Hello, Rachel." She said to Rachel.

"Hello, Rachel." She said back.

"I knew you were coming. You see, I was right where you were right now, not too long ago." The older Rachel said. She seemed like she had perfect control of herself, yet she kept glancing at Ax and then at me.

{How I wish I knew you were humans from the beginning.} Visser Three, One, said.

"Don't say the 'w' word. You never know who is listening." I said out of habit. Anya had drilled that in my head so much it tended to just pop out.

Both the Visser and adult Rachel looked at me oddly, while Marco rolled eyes.

Visser Three shook his head as he continued, {We won, and now this planet is Yeerk territory. After we caught you I gave you to me most trusted colleagues. That is how I knew you were here, five hum- Six humans and an Andalite.} I caught his stumble. {The Ellimist brought you here to make a choice.}

"And what choice do we make?" Marco asked.

"The right one, of course." The older Rachel answered. "See, it all worked out great."

"Yeah?" Jake said defiantly. "Maybe not. The Ellimist brought us here to help us make a choice. So what if we go back to our own time and decide to accept the Ellimist's offer? Then Rachel won't be around to be turned into a Controller. She'll be with the rest of us on whatever planet the Ellimist takes us to."

The Human-Controller had a slight look of doubt, nothing strong, but something was here she didn't plan.

"You know what we decided. But still, here you are," Rachel said. "So either you're here to change what I decided. Except... no, then it might change all of this. Or else you're here because your being here is what caused me to decide whatever I decided."

{Confusing, isn't it?} Visser Three sneered. {I don't know how the Ellimists keep it all straight.}

"I want to leave. I don't want to be around these two... Creatures." Cassie said.

"Oh, Cassie, you're my best friend." The other Rachel mocked.

"No, you're not. You're a Yeerk in my best friend's head." Cassie turned to run, but rushed right into our Rachel. It looked like they were both going to tumble and the older Rachel ran forward to steady them. However, I had already reached and latched onto Cassie's arm, leaving the other Rachel there looking confused.

"Don't touch them." I told her my voice low and serious.

The Controller moved and it must have looked like she was going to strike me because the next thing I knew Ax had his tail blade hovering a hair from her neck. Her eyes widened and for the first time I saw fear as she looked between both Ax and I.

I looked at Visser Three and he looked confused.

"Things not going according to plan?" Rachel asked. "You didn't know Ax was gonna be here, you said we were all human. But things are different. Something has changed." She was smiling.

Something in my mind clicked, "Not just Ax." I turned to the Rachel-Controller, "You don't know who I am because I wasn't there. Five humans, remember?"

"Why you?" Jake asked catching on.

"A number of variables could have changed things; Buffy may have never died, different social worker, or maybe Spike ran off with me. Whatever the reason the odds are different. Our team is different." I didn't tell them the most obvious, that I didn't existent, that The Key was never made human.

{Do you know what I did when I finally caught you and your little band of Animorphs? Do you know what I did? I gave each of you to a trusted lieutenant. And once you belonged to us, once you were MINE, I killed your bird friend here, and we roasted his body. } Visser Three leaned close to Rachel. {He was tough and stringy, but we added a sauce you humans have. Barbecue, I believe it's called. And then your friend Tobias was delicious. You had a leg, as I recall. You ate it and laughed.}

"He's my cousin." I told waving my hand between their faces. "I'm just saying it would be more horrible to tell me I ate my cousin... Oh, you can't because you don't know me." I said the last in a sing-song voice.

When Visser Three just glared at me I laughed.

{He can't hurt us.} Ax said, his tail blade still against bitch Rachel's neck. {He can't do a thing to us. If he does, he would change history. He doesn't know how that what it would affect.}

"Good point, Ax," Jake said. He met my gaze. He had a dangerous, angry look in his eyes.

"He can't hurt us. But the reverse . . . well . . ."

"So, you BBQ'd my friend Tobias?" Rachel asked. I could see her start to change; she was becoming a bear again. Her skin started sprouting brown fur and her body started to grow.

{I could call a hundred Hork-Bajir. Here right now.} He said, but he took a step back betraying his words.

"But you won't. Just like they said, it might change something and you don't have any clue what that might be." I said.

"What do we do?" The older Rachel asked tensely.

{We?} Visser Three asked, {We do nothing. I run.}

I watched as Visser Three started backing up towards the ship. Rachel not quite finished with her morph but she ran forward with her paw lifted ready to strike and...

Nothing.

I was floating in a white nothing. "Well..." I said.

"Hello, Dawn." It was the Ellimist. Again.

"So, ah, where is everyone? Or what do I get to make the choice all by my lonesome?" I said waving my hand at him.

"Oh, Dawn, you should know there is no choice. We don't interfere in that way." I turned around and there was who I was expecting to pop up since the Ellimist showed up in the first place.

"Whistler." I said, he looked much like Buffy had described him. Or rather how I had overheard Buffy said he looked. He was on the short side with dark hair and a Dick Tracy hat. The hat gave it away.

"Well, it's nice to meet the sister of the biggest pain-in-the-ass I have ever met." He said bowing slightly.

"Second," I said, "I heard you met up with Angel."

He smiled and inclined his head in agreement, "You got that right. But here we are with a serious problem."

"It is not a problem if you just left things as they are." The Ellimist said, I could swear that they were giving each other icy glares.

"Look, little one, old and gray here made a mistake. Made one too many little heroes." Whistler told me.

"I gave her a purpose, something she never would have with you. You would have had left her be nothing but a follower." Was the Ellimist angry?

"To keep the balance." The balance demon growled back.

"So, I wasn't supposed to be there, in the construction site?" I interjected trying to understand. After all standing between two fighting god-like creatures was completely normal.

"You were never supposed to leave Sunnydale." Whistler said. "But some people like to play with toys that don't belong to them."

"I had nothing to do with that. I had no control over who was related. I did not choose Loren, nor did I make her niece the slayer." The Ellimist seemed to grow ever so slightly. "And most importantly, I had nothing to do with the slayer's death."

I sighed in relieve at the denial. I won't lie, I was a little lost, and Whistler last comment pushed my thoughts in that direction.

"He is going to give you a choice. He is going to make you choose between either your destiny or your sister." The Ellimist said kindly.

I froze. No, he didn't. That was impossible, she was died.

"A destiny that was created by you." Whistler told the old man before looking at me. "Your sister can come back to you, to save the world again, but there has to be balance. You, The Key, was never meant more than... Well, a behind the scenes helper."

He was telling me I was meant to be a shadow., nothing more than the slayer's sister. The problem was that is all I wanted to be, wasn't it?

"You're saying you'll bring Buffy back?" I asked slowly.

"You will give up the morphing powers and being a champion." The shorter man said.

"I can do that." I said. After all, I was The Key, if Ax could help me unlock whatever was inside of me...

"You must leave this war, the Yeerks, the Andalites, the Animorphs and the morphing power." Whistler told her, taking a step towards her. "The memories will be removed from you, as it will the other Animorphs. It will be as if you never left Sunnydale."

I had to give it all up, everything that had happened since Buffy died. All the things we had been through together, never knowing Tobias, not knowing that the world was being taken over by aliens. But... Buffy. It was my fault she was gone, it was my blood that killed her.

"I can't. How can choose? How can you ask me this?" I wrapped my arms around myself, but no matter what I did I couldn't seem to get warm. It felt like ice was running through my veins, threatening to blow through my skin.

I pulled my head up as the sound of rapid rushing wind, it was moving to make a strange round window like hole in space. Slowly color and shapes started to appear like a picture coming into focus. First thing I saw was Willow. What was she doing? I watched as she started to place candles on the ground, not the ground, on Buffy's grave, that was her headstone.

"You don't have much time. Choose now, or she will." Whistler said.

I turned to the Ellimist, "What will happen, what would save more lives?"

"I can't tell you." He said shaking his head. "I can tell you that no matter what you choose there will be loses. But there will also be gains, a trade if you will."

I looked at Willow, how was she doing this. Goddess, was she playing with this kind of magic? Was that Tara standing behind her looking worried?

I thought about what I had seen earlier, the world where the Yeerks had won and taken over. I was never an Animorph in that world, and Ax wasn't there either. Was it this choice that made that future come true?

Oh, Goddess no. Could I risk that? Everyone, everything lost to a yellow dead world.

"Oh, Buffy, please forgive me." I said as I felt tears start to flow down my eyes, I had made my choice. My throat felt swollen and my words came out as croaks. "Please, I love you. Don't... Don't hate me."

Through the tears I saw the vase like thing Willow had sat down burst and scatter, making her cry out.

Whistler growled, "She's yours." And he was gone.

The Ellimist turned to at the window to Sunnydale closed, "I knew you would make the right choice. Don't feel this way, Dawn. You saved her. You will see"

~*~

It was a couple days later when all of us were in Cassie's barn at three-thirty in the morning. My eyes felt swollen even though I knew that morphing had healed any irritation. My heart felt like lead, and it took all of my strength to act semi-normal.

Jake looked sleepy but interested. Cassie was using the time to check on some of the sick animals. Ax just stood to one side, waiting to see what Jake told him to do. Tobias perched on an over head beam, tired from having flown too much when he came to wake each of us. Rachel, on the other hand, was full of energy, and seemed ready to burst with whatever she had to tell us.

We were lit by a single small bulb that never even touched the shadows in the corners of the barn. We didn't want to take the chance that Cassie's parents might notice a light on and come to investigate.

"I'll tell you why you're here." Rachel told us, "I know where the Kandrona is. I know where it is."

Marco was still skeptical. "What makes you think you know where the Kandrona is?"

"The Ellimist. He showed us. We all thought it was unfair when he appeared in the Yeerk pool and asked us to decide when we were about to be eaten, right?"

{I told you, Ellimists care nothing about fairness,} Ax said.

"No. You're wrong, Ax. At least this time. The Ellimist appeared when we were about to be swallowed by the Taxxon. But then he showed us the dropshaft."

"We saw the drop shaft because it was there," Jake argued. "It wasn't about him showing it to us."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "He waited till we had walked out of the Yeerk lunchroom to appear. He waited till we were standing where we were sure to notice the drop shaft."

I saw Jake raise an eyebrow thoughtfully. He and Marco exchanged a look.

At that time my phone rang.

"How did...?" Cassie asked.

I shrugged, "Who would notice what an owl is carrying in the dark? Other owls? Plus, since I disappeared for three days someone calls me almost every day." I told her.

"Hi, Spike." I said answering the phone.

I walk outside side because I didn't think the others would like Spike overhearing our plan to.. Kill, maim, or destroy... whatever.

"You know what, Bit?" He asked, he seemed, well, happier.

"Humm. You save a litter of kittens and are sending them to me to protect them from Clem?" I asked hopefully.

There was a little laugh, "Naw, but I'll remember that in case you call me crying. I got a message, from Cordy, of all people."

"Cordy?" I asked my voice may have squeaked a little. A Little.

"May have guess what she told me, huh? Something about my Nibblet getting herself in some epic battle." He laughed, "And something about peaches having losing his soul again."

"Again?" I asked. Yeah, I didn't really think it was going to work.

"She also said you saved the slayer." He told me ignoring my question. "That Red was going to pull her out of heaven, says that big sis thanks you."

I felt like a stake had been pulled out of my chest, like my soul had been returned. "Oh, Goddess." I sat down right there in the wet grass outside of Cassie's barn. "I... Thank you Spike." I managed.

"Oh, don't thank me yet. I'm gonna be on my way there in a week or two, once was this new slayer comes in from England and the Hellmouth as more than a bloody robot protecting it. Don't care what peaches seer says, your battle is my battle."

"Spike!" I said. "Really you... You can't help. Please just stay there; it's not what you think." I said not knowing what to say.

There was no answer, "Spike?" I asked but he had hung up. Crap-tacular.

"GRRR." I said as I stomped back into the barn. I looked at the others and sighed, "So what are we attacking now?"

{The EGS Tower} Tobias told me.

I smiled, "Ooo!" I said. "Wait, now?"

Jake nodded.

"Not so ooo."

~*~

At five-ten in the morning, the EGS Tower's windows were almost all dark. From the deeply shadowed plaza in front of the building, we could see a sleepy, uniformed guard inside the lobby.

"There are dozens of businesses and law firms and stuff in this building," Jake warned. "Most of them are probably just normal people. Fortunately, at this time of day, almost no one will be here. But the guard is probably just a normal guy."

"How do we deal with him without hurting him?" Cassie asked.

Suddenly Tobias swooped down out of a dark sky. {I can't see anything useful through the windows up there.} He said. {Too bad that glass dome is still in the future. But I can tell you one thing. Something up there is giving off some heat. I'm getting a beautiful updraft from the building itself.}

"Let's do this, already," Rachel grumbled. She already started morphing into a bear.

"Okay, but take it easy on any innocent bystanders," Jake said. "Tobias? I know you're wearing out, but stay up and keep an eye out while we morph."

{No prob, Jake.} He flapped his wings and slowly gained altitude.

"These doors will be locked," Cassie pointed out.

"Not for long," I said. I started to morph the croc around the same time Rachel started but I will still be behind the others.

Ax was already demorphing, coming out of his human body and resuming his Andalite shape. Sometimes I was amazed at how dangerous he was in his actual form. To be able to that much damage in my everyday body would be like being a vampire with sword instead of arms.

Jake's eyes were glittering, his body was lengthening, and striped orange-and-black fur was spreading like a wave over his skin.

Cassie was already on all fours. Rough gray fur grew thickly around her shoulders. Her mouth bulged out further and further to form a wolf's muzzle.

{Hey! A guy's coming up behind you.} Tobias called down. {I think he's drunk. He's carrying a bottle. If it were daytime, I could read the label. He's definitely staggering.}

{Keep morphing.} Jake said quickly. {Cassie? See if you can get rid of him.}

She ran off and I could hear him freaking out at the sudden appearance of a wild wolf in the middle of town.

{He decided to go in a different direction.} Cassie reported.

{Let's go!} Rachel said, as usual she was ready to tear through anything that dared to stand in front of her.

{Actually, how about if Marco tries it first?} Jake suggested.

While the rest of us lurked in the shadows, Marco, now an extremely large, powerful gorilla, knuckle-walked to the glass door. He stood up on his hind legs and tapped with one massive finger on the glass.

The guard jerked in his seat. He stood up and moved cautiously closer. Then he drew his gun.

"Hey, get out of here," the guard said.

{Hi.} Marco said in thought-speak. {I just came from a masquerade party, and I was looking for Visser Three.}

The guard's eyes went wide. "Andalite!" he hissed.

{Oh, so you area Controller. Good, that makes it so much simpler.}

With that, Marco punched straight through the thick glass of the door.

CRASH!

His gorilla fist connected squarely with the guard's chin. The guard crumpled, still holding his gun.

{Move, move, move!} Jake yelled.

Okay easier said than done. If a crocodile was rushing towards you it may seem like the fastest animal in the world. But compared to a wolf, tiger and alien with a deer's lower body, it is rather slow. Even Marco and Rachel were slightly faster than I was.

{Go for the freight elevator.} Jake told us, {That will hold us.}

Ax and Cassie kept watch while we waited for the elevator to come down. After the doors finally opened I was the first to go in because I was the lowest to the ground and the others had to contort themselves based of me to keep me from being trampled.

{Can you press the button? I sure can't.} Jake said. He held up one of his huge paws to show Rachel, who was the next closest to the buttons.

The doors closed and we rose swiftly upward.

I heard Rachel say, {Says here the maximum load is twenty people.}

{How many bears, tigers, crocodiles, and gorillas?} I asked

It was silent for a few more moments.

{So. Seen any good movies lately?} Jake asked.

{I saw the new Twilight movie.} Marco said.

{Fairys sparkle, not vampires.} I said.

{I have to agree on that one.} Rachel said. {I mean I love a good love story, but what vampire spends its life brooding and stalking a teenage girl?}

Suddenly I realized there was music playing in the elevator. The usual stupid elevator music.

The elevator stopped. The door opened.

Just as three humans and two Hork-Bajir were racing toward the elevator.

"Rrrrrroooowwwwrrrr!" Jake roared in a voice that could crack concrete.

I slithered out after Jake and Rachel stumbled out. I couldn't do anything cool like roar, howl or pound on my chest so I settled on stealth, or as stealthy as a 20 foot croc could be, and using it to roll the distracted Controllers.

The rest of the humans took off running down the hall before Ax and Cassie came out of the elevator.

Rachel took off down the hall, most likely using her nose to guide her, as the rest of us followed.

{Watch out, Rachel.} Cassie called. {There's a door straight ahead of you.}

{Nah. There's no door.} She said, and plowed all her eight hundred pounds into a steel door that popped open like the lid of a jack-in-the-box.

Inside, ten Hork-Bajir warriors stood ready.

Ten walking razor blades.

Rachel ran forward.

{Rachel!} Cassie called.

{Too late to retreat now.} Jake told us, {Go!}

"Kill the gaffnur Andalites!" a Hork-Bajir cried in the weird mix of languages that they use.

"Kill fraghent Andalite halaf kill all!"

I surged forward grabbing one Hork-Bajir with my powerful jaws and attempted use his body to knock down as many of the others as I could by waving him around like a rag doll. His blades struck me as while as the enemy, nothing struck me critically. Not even the chunk of tail that I was missing from when a Hork-Bajir fell on me.

From that point on, it was a nightmare of terrible images that seemed to float in and out of my hazy vision.

I saw Cassie, with her bone-breaking jaws sunk into the throat of a Hork-Bajir.

I saw Rachel had a stump where one of her paws was and the fur on her shoulder was sagging.

I saw Ax, his tail like a deadly bullwhip, lashing, cutting, lashing again, till one of the Hork-Bajir stood screaming, holding his own severed arm.

I saw Jake and a Hork-Bajir locked in a deadly embrace as they rolled and slashed at each other with superhuman speed.

I saw Marco fighting with one arm as he held his own sliced stomach together with the other hand.

And everywhere, snarling, growling, raging, roaring noise.

CRRRAASSHHH

Rachel just threw a Hork-Bajir out the window. I heard a screech and saw a blur of brown; Tobias must have flown in through the broken window.

The Hork-Bajir had had enough. Maybe it was hearing one of their fellows fall sixty stories.

Or maybe it was Tobias's arrival, strengthening our side. But whatever it was, the remaining Hork-Bajir ran.

Three ran. The rest were not going anywhere.

Marco grabbed the crumpled door and slammed it back in place. Then, with what must have been the last of his strength, he shoved a desk in place to block the door.

{I'm hurt bad.} Marco said. {I gotta morph out, man.}

{Demorph, everyone.} Jake told us.

{I'm fine.} Rachel said.

{Rachel, you missing your left paw.} I told her already focusing on my human body. My weak but healthy human body

Morphing is done from DNA, fortunately. DNA is not affected by injuries, so injuries do not follow you from one morph to another.

Exhaustion does.

Through human eyes, I saw a scene of carnage. The Hork-Bajir lay sprawled around the room. Most seemed to be breathing. None were conscious. All were bleeding from claw and teeth wounds.

Unfortunately for the Hork-Bajir, they could not simply morph out of their injured bodies.

"Everyone okay?" Jake asked, sounding as weary as I felt.

"Yeah, but that was way too close," Cassie said.

We were in a large office. I could see that now with my human eyes. Desks lay splintered. The carpet was ripped into ribbons. The walls were gouged. Floor-to-ceiling windows formed one wall. They were shattered. I remembered the Hork-Bajir falling, and shuddered. There was a door in one wall.

"Through there?" Marco suggested.

"Let's try it," I said. I staggered toward the door. It was not locked.

A bare room. Tile floor. White painted walls.

The wall of windows was blocked by heavy curtains. The room was empty but for a large, massively built platform in the very center. It was a steel pedestal, maybe three-feet-high, eight-feet-long. And atop that pedestal was a machine the size of a small car. It was shaped like a cylinder, tapered to dull points on both ends.

It gleamed brightly, like new chrome, as if it had just been polished. And it made a slight, low humming noise. As I approached I felt my hair stand on end from the static electricity. It was warm in the room, very warm. It smelled like lightning.

{The Kandrona.}Ax said.

"Sparkly." I said.

I don't know if I said it all or the others were in shock because no one said anything.

"Rachel?" Jake said at last. "We need you to morph again. Can you do it?"

She nodded slowly. "Elephant?"

"Elephant. I don't know how else we're going to do it. We don't have any tools or anything." He said.

I watched as Rachel pushed the stupid thing down sixty-stories to the ground.

"We destroyed the Kandrona." I said.

"We need to get out of here. The Yeerks are will be all over this place soon." Jake said.

"So did we change the future?" Marco asked.

EVERYTHING CHANGES THE FUTURE.

Rachel groaned, back to human now. "I knew we didn't get rid of him."

A REPLACEMENT KANDRONA WILL BE HERE IN THREE OF YOUR WEEKS.

IT WAS ALREADY ON ITS WAY.

"So it was all for nothing? They are going to get a replacement in such a short time?" Marco demanded.

Ax said, {No, Marco, it was not a waste. Three weeks with only the Kandrona aboard the mother ship? In three weeks' time they will suffer greatly. They will fall behind in their schedule. Many Yeerks will perish. Three weeks is not a waste.}

"Did we do enough?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, we did." I told him, mostly because it was he needed to hear.

~*~

I was sitting in Ax's Scoop with Tobias in some branches above us. "My sister was a hero." I told them, "She even had a corny nickname, they called her the slayer."

{I am confused, what did she fight?} Ax asked.

I took a deep breath, "She fought creature that I pray the Yeerks never discovered. Come on. I think Clem's cousin is in town. I seem less crazy when I have proof."

{What? Is it evil fairys or something?} Tobias joked.

"Or something." I said laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

AN- I do not own BTVS or Animorphs.  
-Also the timeline of both Buffy and Angel are all over the place. Things that happened in Buffy season 6 may happen after things from Angel season 5 ect… I am sorry if that confuses anyone and lets all blame it on Buffy not coming back to life.

The Alien-

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

I ran to the window and looked below to see my sister bleeding; Xander was holding a towel to her as her red blood puddle around her. Was she shot? With a gun? Who used a gun?

A male figure ran out of our yard, stumbling.

A scream in the house rang as clear as the gun shot moments earlier. It was full of torment and pain, the kind of scream one doesn't forget, not ever.

I rushed down the hall, my long brown hair flying around me until I reached the doorway that led to Willow's room. The door was closed but I could see as if I was standing in the room, Willow was cradling Tara; her body rocking back and forth like the movement would bring back her lost lover.

Tara's body was lying there, horribly still. It wouldn't be moving again.

I jolted awake.

The dark room was still, the dark black-out curtains only let in a slight halo of light to announce the morning.

I got out of the bed and stumbled into the bathroom, turning the light on. The tile was cold against my feet and the dirty sink was wet from the dripping faucet, it told me that, without a doubt, this was reality. The real world.

Dreams came out of the blue and sucked me into a world that didn't want to let me go. A world I choose to bury in impossibilities. I prevented my sister, Buffy, from being torn from Heaven by the same Willow in my dream. In a few hours I wouldn't be able to recall anything I witnessed in the dream, but I would still hold the knowledge, or the feeling, that I saved someone. This was not the first time, and it will not be the last.

I had to make it to the forest to meet with the other Animorphs in a few hours. Ax wanted to go to the movies, and we all agreed that after destroying the Kandroma we could use the freedom.

Tobias and I would arrive early to talk about Spike's visit in a few weeks. So far Ax and Tobias are the only Animorphs that are aware of the demonic side of Earth. A few days ago I took them to meet Flucus, Clem's cousin, at first Ax was sure he was an alien, the idea of demons and vampire was just too much for the Andalite at the time. Then Flu did his snake trick.

If Ax had not been human at that moment Flu wouldn't have a head. I was sure of it.

Ax still didn't believe in magic, choosing to stick to the idea of technology so advance that the 'demon' races, who are in fact aliens that settled earth many years ago, had forgotten about its origins.

He was so sure of it that I almost believed him.

I rode Tobias' old bike over to Cassie's house, parking it behind her house. From there it wasn't a long walk to Ax's Scoop. A Scoop is an Andalite house-shanty-thingy, and I helped Ax put his together.

{Hello, Dawn.} Ax greeted me outside of a meadow halfway to his scoop.

"Hey, were you eating?" I asked waving my hand.

{I had just finished when I heard you moving through the forest.}

Ax had no mouth and I had gotten him to tell me that he ate by absorbing nutrients through his hooves. Yeah, I still didn't get it.

I saw a hawk land on a thick branch to our right. "Hi, Tobias."

{You got here early.} He said.

"Strange dreams," I told him, "Things I can only remember for a few hours and then it is like they are gone. Mostly, at least. It's like chasing shadows."

{Is it related to your sister?} Ax asked.

Ax and I had something in common that few could relate to. We had older siblings that we could never live up to. Among Andalites Ax's brother, Elfangor, was a great war-prince, a hero. Elfangor was also the one to give us the power to morph and for that I will be grateful forever.

"I think. Anyways, it beats nightmares about bloody, never ending battles." I shrugged. "The boys want to take you to the new Star Trek film, something about aliens and science-fiction. I'm much more of a horror fan, so I'll probably sit out with Tobias, and fly around."

Each of us had a bird of prey morph, ranging from Rachel's bald eagle to Jake's peregrine falcon. I choose to be a little of the beaten path and changed from a rough-leg hawk to a California Condor, which I got by sneaking into a zoo.

Of course, that pissed Rachel off because she realized I was the bigger bird. Cassie had a fit because the Condor hasn't been see out California since the 30's but I pointed out that 90 percent of people will think I am just any other buzzard. And the others will just be confused or think I am confused.

{So your vampire friend is coming and you want us... to what?} Tobias asked.

"Help me convince him that we have everything under control." I told them.

{Because you wish to keep that side of your planet from the Yeerks, fearing the power they would obtain from such creatures.}

"The... thing in my head told me that Yeerks couldn't infest vampires because they were dead, and probably have no brain activity. But they do, they have to, because Spike has a chip in his head that reads his brain activity to give him a shock whenever he harms a human." I said tapping the side of my head.

{Such a device would kill... Unless the individual is already dead. I understand.} Ax said nodding.

"If Spike thinks I am in danger he will stay. He is like an older brother, he promised Buffy, who he was in love with, that he would take care of me. He will die keeping that promise." I told them.

{And if the Yeerks take him, it would be a million times worse than breaking his promise.} Tobias said spreading his wings, {The others will be here in another minute.}

I watched as Tobias left, sometimes I think he is happier as a hawk then he was as a human.

~*~

I have morphed some Andalite animals. And I have morphed many strange Earth animals. But the animal I morphed the most is the human animal. They are weak, slow, half-blind, and unstable, but no Andalite should laugh at them. Humans rule their planet. And as the human Rachel once said, Earth is a tough neighborhood. - From the Earth Diary of Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

~*~

Ax's day at the movies didn't go as well as we had hoped. We discovered two things though; one, Ax loved chocolate as much as a pregnant woman, and that the Yeerks in people's heads were dying. In public.

Ax went crazy in human morph again when he got a taste of some M&Ms and attempted to steal them from the hands of whoever was holding a bag. Once they left the theater they witnessed a man pulling a dead Yeerk out of his own head.

It wasn't long before I found Ax during my name sake the next day. I landed and demorphed still watching him.

{From the water that gave birth to us,} He said, and dipped his right forehoof into the water.

{From the grass that feeds us,} He said, and moved back to crush a small tuft of grass beneath the same hoof.

{For the freedom that unites us.} He spread his arms wide.

{We rise to the stars.} He looked with all four of his eyes at the rising sun.

He bowed low. {Freedom is my only cause. Duty to the people, my only guide. Obedience to my prince, my only glory.}

He hesitated; I realized he noticed I was watching. {The destruction of my enemies, my most solemn vow.}

He straightened up again, then assumed the fighting stance. {I, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, Andalite warrior-cadet, offer my life.}

With that, he drew his tail blade forward and pressed it against his own throat. Finally he relaxed.

"Wow." I said stepping closer, "Uh, I mean, different. You know, with the tail blade and the 'till death- thingy. Very slayer, with the fighting and the… Stuff." I ended lamely.

{The morning ritual,} He told me even though I don't think he could decipher my rambling, {It reminds a warrior to be humble. And to serve the people.}

{Dawn, Ax! Don't move.} It was Tobias. He sounded frightened so I froze and that is when I heard it. A hollow rattling, coming from the other side of Ax.

"That's a rattle snake." I told him, "It is poisonous, and uber dangerous."

{I did not know that. I have seen-} He stopped when the snake struck. Luckily for Ax it only hit his hoof.

I let out a breath in relief; I really didn't want to explain to a hospital that I needed rattle snake anti-venom for an alien. Or worse yet, explain it to Cassie.

I leaned back and saw the snake being held down by his tale blade for a moment and then it went still. I knew he was acquiring it, when one of us absorbs the DNA of a creature it went into a trance like state.

{You want to be able to morph a rattle snake?} Tobias asked, sounding dubious.

{It's very fast,} he said. {And I have fewer Earth morphs than the others. It may be useful someday.}

He used his tail to fling the now limp snake in the bushes.

"So are you ready for your first day back to school?" I asked.

{Are you?} Tobias asked me. I had sort of been cutting school a lot lately, and it was a point of disagreement between my cousin and me.

{Yes. I may be on this planet for a long time. I should be using this time to learn about humans. Even though ... I think I may have behaved badly at the movie.} Ax said as I glared at Tobias.

"We heard."

{Oh, yes we did.} Tobias was laughing. Actually, we both were. Andalites and candy can be as dangerous as the rattle snake from earlier.

"It's okay, Axis." I started calling him that around the same time Tobias started calling him Ax-man. Ax-man seemed so Xander, I wanted to give him a Spike nickname but all I could come up with that sounded Spike-like was Deer-Reaper.

{You just need to stay away from chocolate.} Tobias told him.

I morphed back to pigmy before the three of us headed towards the school. I used my small size to fly around and through the dense forest, while Tobias flew overhead and Ax ran below.

{In school, during Xenobiology, we had a section on humans,} He told us. {It mostly involved human television programs. News shows. Entertainment. Music.}

{Music? You mean like MTV? You were watching music videos on the Andalite home world?} Tobias asked.

{I don't remember what they were. I ... I didn't pay very much attention to Xenobiology. I wish I had now. A warrior is supposed to be a scientist and an artist, as well as a fighter. But I didn't always enjoy that other stuff, so I didn't pay much attention. I suppose humans always pay attention in school.}

I laughed. {Willow floated her first pencil because she wasn't paying attention in class and trying magic instead.}

Tobias laughed along with me before saying, {We're just about there. Are you ready to start?}

{Yes, I'm ready.} Ax said.

{Jake and Cassie are coming across the field. Time for you to morph. Time to get human. Dawn, Rachel had your bag with the clothes and your school stuff.}

{Tobias, will you ... I mean, you'll be alone today. While we're with the others.} Ax said

{Really, Toby, since Ax has been around…} I was worried too.

{What? Like I can't get along without you, Ax- man? I have places to go, things to do. Feathers to preen and rodents to eat. Besides, Ax, Jake has already asked me to fly cover over the school while you're in there.}

{Oh, so we have our own hawk-patrol?} I asked.

{Of course,} Tobias said, {In case you follow you sister's footsteps and blow up the school then set it on fire.}

{That's set it on fire, then blow it up.} I told him sternly before laughing. I was surprised when Ax laughed with us.

The three of us were so alike, so alone in this world, just pretending to belong.

~*~

I was already sitting in a desk in the back of the room when Jake and Ax walked in. They walked over to the teacher.

Jake said, "Mr. Pardue? This is my cousin from out of town. His name's Phillip. He's just hanging with me today, okay?"

"Just sit. Sit. Be quiet and sit."

"Jake." I waved him over to me. "Rachel said your cousin was coming today." I stage whispered so the other people in the room could hear but still making it seem like I didn't want them to, "And she said he was cute. She's right."

I could see Ax's human face blush. And it took all my control not to laugh, I was expecting him to look at me blankly like he does when someone calls Rachel pretty.

"I'm Phillip. Lup." He told me.

I smiled, "Do you want to sit here?" I asked pointing to the empty desk next to me, "Jake can sit in front of us."

Jake nodded at me knowing I had more experience with Ax. Ax sat down, as Jake took seat.

"What is going on back there? Quiet down," the teacher demanded loudly. "What is ... what... wha . . ." Suddenly, he clutched at his head with both hands. "Everyone be quiet! Quiet!"

"Mr. Pardue, are you okay?" I asked standing up.

"Okay?" Mr. Pardue demanded in a loud, angry voice. "Am I okay? Am I - aaaaahhhhh!" Without warning, Mr. Pardue pitched forward. He fell on the floor. He clawed at his head with his hands. And he cried. "Yeerk! Get out of me!"

He clawed at his head till blood began to flow.

"Aaaaaarrrggghhh!" the teacher cried as he clawed at his head.

Someone began screaming. "What's happening?! What's happening?!"

Someone else ran from the room into the hallway and began to shout, "Help! Help! Help!"

The three of us in the back of the room were very still. Jake and I had been there, not long ago it was like both of us going back to place we never wanted to visit again.

"Stop damaging our body!" Mr. Pardue cried. Then, as if he were answering himself, he said in a slurred voice, "Get out my head! Get out of my head! You're finished!"

"That makes two," Jake whispered.

"Two that we've seen. Something is going wrong for ... for them." Ax replied.

Mr. Pardue began crying. He began cursing. All the while he writhed on the floor, and the others stood around horrified, helpless.

"Did you know he was a Controller?" I asked Jake, making my voice very quiet.

"No. He always seemed like a nice guy. I can't just sit here and watch this!"

"Get OUT OF ME!" Mr. Pardue screamed suddenly.

I jumped up and ran down the hall. Something Tobias said earlier gave me an idea. I looked around and found what I was looking for; I quickly pilled the red tab that has tempted every student who walled down these halls since they were installed. The ear breaking rattle of the fire alarm sounded through the school. As I ran back to the emptying class room I saw Rachel coming down the hall.

I latched on to her arm and whispered in her ear, "Don't let Chapman in Mr. Pardue's room. Distract him or something."

Through the swarm of students I went back to the room and locked the door behind me. I grabbed the pull down map and threw it over the window.

Jake had grabbed the teacher's shoulder in a tight grip, "I've been there," he whispered. "I've done it, Mr. Pardue. I was a Controller for a while. I survived. Just hang in."

"I told Rachel to keep Chapman out of here." I told him. Before turning to Ax, "They are going to kill him, aren't they?"

"If the Yeerk inside the teacher dies, the teacher would be free," He said. "He will tell other humans what happened. He will warn them. The Yeerks can't allow witnesses."

"They can't re-infest because the replacement is too far out. The Yeerks in the pool are dying too fast." I turned to Jake, "I told you this would happen."

As the Yeerk fell on the floor the real Mr. Pardue looked at us.

I ran to me desk getting a pen and a notepad, "Mr. Pardue, listen to me. You need to walk out of here like nothing is wrong, like you are still a Controller and it is any other day. Go to this address and talk to Flu. Tell him Dawn sent you and that you need a new identity and money. He is not human but he has nothing to do with the Yeerks. Are you following me?"

Mr. Pardue nodded slightly.

"From Flu's head to LA find a place called Angel's Investigations. Tell the boss, Angel, that Dawn, aka Buffy's sister, was your student and saved your life. That I sent you to him because you need protection, but do not tell him or anyone about the Yeerks, not yet, okay?"

I was surprised when he nodded again, adults don't like to be told what to do by kids. He stood up, and took the paper from my hand, looking at it before sticking it in his pants. "Thank you." He whispered and walked out of the room, leaving Ax, Jake, and I alone.

"If Flu isn't human, what is he?" Jake asked after a moment of silence.

Crap. I forgot Jake didn't know.

"Ah, Demon." I said.

"Alien." Ax corrected directly after.

I rolled my eyes, "It's up for discussion." I corrected.

Jake looked between the two of us settling on me, "Are you human?"

"Yes." I answered, but Ax looked down and away.

"I am. I am human with human memories, and red human blood. I live on earth and fight for it the same as you. What I was before doesn't matter. Not unless you make it matter." I said.

Jake stood up and walked out of the room into the empty hallway. We followed not seeing any other options.

"What else?" He asked finally.

"What?" I asked.

"What else are you keeping from us?" He turned and looked Ax in the eyes, "Both of you."

I crossed my arms, "Vampires, witches, hell goddesses, oh and government super soldiers. One, one government super soldier." I corrected. "Of course, now you think I am crazy. Or you want to use them in this war and that is not happening."

"Whatever, Dawn, hide behind your stupid crazy comments and insane ramblings." He said.

"Prince Jake…"

"No Ax, it is both of you. I don't know, maybe Dawn is crazy. But you mislead us into thinking the hosts were going to be re-infected."

"I said it was possible." Ax said.

"This has happened before, hasn't it?" Jake push Ax against a wall and I took a step back at the wild look in his eyes. "You knew for a fact what would happen and yet you let me hush Dawn's concerns."

"You silenced her because you wanted to."Ax said.

Jake let Ax go, "You knew Tom was going to be in danger. My brother, Ax!"

"You wanted to be told he wouldn't be harmed. So I did."

Jake stuck his face very close to Ax's. "That's what you think? You know what, Ax? You're right to try and learn more about humans. Because you don't know a thing about us. Not a thing."

~*~

When the door bell rang I didn't expect to see Rachel standing on the other side. I stood there standing, staring at her for a moment.

Actually, I was confused because when I open the door, her eyes grew and the pissed off expression seemed to melt away, leaving a strange combination of sympathy and pity.

When the reason for the look pushed its way into my muddled brain, I wanted to slam the door in her face and scream something along the lines of 'get out, get out, get out.' But I didn't have the diaries up stairs to burn and without the pyrotechnics it just wasn't the same.

Last night my 'uncle' didn't get drunk enough, and since Rachel had knocked on my door at ten in the morning, waking me up, I hadn't had time to morph to make myself look… Well, less broken.

Without saying anything Rachel turned around and started to walk away.

"Hey! Wait," grabbed her arm as she made it down the first steps of our very small porch, "What are you doing here? I mean, why'd you come and run?"

"Jake sent me." She told me, it was a very straight forward tone and she refused to look at me, "He wanted to know what you are keeping from us. Why you spend so much time out with Ax and Tobias."

"It's not… Not like it seems." I said crossing my arms.

"Really? So you can see out of that eye right now just fine, huh?" She said looking at me again.

"You've seen me missing limbs, and a swollen eye has you running with the wiggins?"

"This wasn't done in a battle with the enemy," She said in an angry hushed tone. "It was done by a human. An adult human who is supposed to be your family."

Just a few months ago I would have agreed with Rachel. A few months ago I had a family who loved me, a family who was alive. A few months ago I wasn't real.

"I can't go anywhere Rachel." I told her, "They will send me across the country and I have lost too much to leave this war now."

I knew she had some strange feelings for Tobias, and I hoped she knew that I wasn't going to leave him out there in the woods with Ax as his only friend.

"If it gets any worse…" She let the statement hang. Yeah, I knew. It wasn't like my uncle was going to make it to the end of the month anyway, not after Spike comes to town.

"I'll leave. Maybe I'll build a room in Ax's Scoop and play squatter." I laughed.

"Only you would be happy about that." Rachel said.

"What were you planning on doing today? Besides showing up at butt-fudger in the morning to wake me up."

She shrugged, "I was going to ask you to go to the mall with me."

"What if I threw you my clothes and you meet me there? I'll fly, 'cus it will help with the," I moved my hand in a circular motion around my face, "This stuff."

She smiled, the two of us has never been buddies, but anyone can bond over a trip to the mall.

It was three hours and two mocha lattes later that both of us were standing the young men's section in one of the department stores rummaging through the sales rack while taking turns discussing what would look best on Ax. After I informed Rachel she had enough clothes to stock three Goodwills and still have more variety than Cassie, she suggested we buy Ax his own wardrobe, so he will feel welcome. Or in other words, neither girl needed anything so we shopped for the only person who owned no clothes.

Sure, it was Cordelia logic, but that's what made it fun.

As Rachel held up yet another polo shirt I shook my head, "Jake and Marco are right, you just want him to get his ass kicked."

"Well, I don't think we will find another shirt like that one." She pointed to the blue shirt in my hand that said, 'I eat cigarettes for breakfast.' "But if you find a shirt that say, 'I'm really a big blue alien in disguise,' tell me."

I rolled my eyes and glanced out the door and down the mall seeing a large 'Avatar' display in another store. "Ah, Rachel?" I tapped her shoulder.

She looked where I was pointing, "Oh, shut-up."

But we were both laughing. It was like shopping with Buffy, so normal. I could almost pretend, just for a moment, if I closed my eyes that she wasn't gone and it was all some bad dream.

Slowly Rachel put the shirt back, "You like him. Like a boy."

I blinked at her, "Who?"

"Ax." She said.

I blushed and looked away. Not answering. Nope. Can't make me. Stupid monks, I know they messed something up, I mean, who eats pineapple and M&Ms in their subs. Food and boys, they go hand in hand, right?

"I don't get it, but that's just me. I guess with the morphing powers…" She trailed off as she moved to the next rack. This one was thirty percent off. "He has pretty eyes."

I looked at her, "What?"

She smiled as she placed another shirt in our ever growing pile. "Nothing."

I walked carefully through the forest until I found Ax's Scoop. The bags that held the clothes Rachel and I brought Ax were pretty heavy, and given that I was not the most balanced thing on two legs I fell over trees and roots and pieces of poop. A lot.

"Hey," I said as I set the bags inside the slanted building.

{Hello, Dawn,} Ax said in return. {I did not think I would see you today. The others are very angry at me.}

"Yeah, I know. But it's not like I didn't tell them this was going to happen." I started pulling things out of the bags setting them down on a work table we he had set up.

{I have noticed they don't hold value in what you say. Perhaps if you told them of all the wonderful things you know…} He trailed off.

"Like you?" I shook my head. "You saw Jake's reaction when I told him. They will think it is a joke. Or worse yet, a lie."

{Marco took me to a book store today. Books are a wonderful human creation, I have seen you with books many times, are they a sign of intelligence?}

"For the most part, but not all the time." I shrugged, "Yeah, Rachel took me out to the mall today; I guess it was a divide and conquer. They think you're a wolf in sheep's clothes, Odysseus telling us that Nobody is your name so when you poke us on the eye we blame Nobody."

{I am confused, who is Odysseus?}

"The greatest hero, fictional of course, that has ever been created. Not even Beowulf can hold a candle." I told him.

{You mean those picture books that young men commonly read?}

I laughed, "No. Marco wouldn't be seen near a copy of these books. I'll get you a copy. You'll like them, lots of both honor and cleverness."

{I would like that.} He paused, {Dawn… Tomorrow… I have asked Tobias to take me to the observatory. I think I may be able to contact, someone. If you are not angry at me, you may choose to not go to school. I wouldn't want you to be confused if I am not present.}

"Okay," I crossed my arms, "Are you going to ask me to come or do I have to get mad first?"

~*~

Xander used to say there were good ideas, bad ideas, and then there were the plans that Buffy dreamed up.

I think there is another level. The plans that involve Ax contacting other Andalites. So far this had only ended in problems for us. Despite this, I made the choice to follow both Ax and Tobias to the observatory so Ax could diddle with human technology to phone home.

Very ET.

We had followed the ocean line up state for about an hour. In we soared in our bird of prey morph. It was freeing, and unlike anything you could ever imagine. It was also the only time I was able to overcome my overwhelming fear of heights.

{That's the radio telescope?} Ax laughed as we flew over the large grey building surrounded by huge dishes. {You're still using dish arrays?}

{Won't they work for ... for whatever it is you're doing?} Tobias asked. All we knew was Ax did something at Marco's and now he thought he knew a way to call home.

{Oh, yes, they should work. If I can gain access to the computers, they should work very well. It's just that they're so primitives}

{I don't suppose you want to tell us what we're doing, huh?} I asked.

{Doing? We're flying,} He told me.

{Very funny. Suddenly you have a sense of humor. Great.}

{The large building with the dome?} He asked Tobias as we swept above the observatory. {Is that where the computers would be?}

{Maybe. That's where they have the regular telescope, I think. But they may have the control centers and computers there, too.} Tobias told him.

{A telescope? An actual optical telescope? What can they possibly believe that'll show them?}

{It will show them a red-tail, a condor, and a harrier flying around together, looking like lost tourists,} I said.

Tobias said, {According to Marco, this place isn't really operating yet. So I don't know how many people will be around. But we need to find a place to land, so you can morph into something useful, and do ... whatever.}

{Tobias. Is that sarcasm? The way you ask me what I'm doing?} Ax asked.

{No, it's not sarcasm. I think it's called being snide.} I told him.

{Ah. Thanks for explaining. Why not fly straight into the dome?} Ax asked.

{Why not?} Tobias agreed. He led the way down.

We dived at high speed, rocketing down through the air. The brilliant white dome rushed up at us. I shot through the open rectangle and banked sharply right.

It was much darker inside than outside. Below me was the incredibly large telescope.

{I see doors down below. Those are probably offices,} Tobias said. {They'll probably have computers in all the offices. If we can find one that's empty.}

{Yes. That would be good. But I will need fingers.}

{For. . .} Tobias said

{For whatever it is I'm doing,} Ax said.

We circled swiftly around the inside of the dome

{This place is awfully empty,} Tobias said.

{Yes. It seems almost abandoned,} The alien agreed. {I am going down. My morph time is running short. Now is when I should go on alone.}

{Yeah. Gotcha. Good luck getting Dawnie to come with me. Whatever you're doing, be careful.} Tobias said as he lifted off.

{Dawn.} It was scary how much he sounded like mom at that moment.

{You need to demorph, so do I. And if I was really brought here by some ancient race of aliens than you should have no problems letting me stay.} If I could have I would have smiled, {Maybe I can teach you a thing or two.}

{You promised.} He said.

{Won't be the first time I lied. But I'll close my eyes if it makes you feel better.} I started to demorph.

For a moment I thought I had pushed him too far and he was just going to leave. But he started to demorph, thankfully.

{Ax can - hear me?}

It was Tobias. His thought-speech was faint.

{Just barely,} Ax answered. I couldn't because now that I was human I had no thought-speech ability anymore. {I'm outside. I'm looking -- a window -- here. I see - ven--- in a room. -- like some kind of meeting.}

{Yes, we can hear them,} He said. {Can you keep watch over them? Let me know if they come this way?}

{Yeah. If any -- leaves the - ting, I'll know -- ,} Tobias said.

{I can barely hear you,} Ax said.

{Can't ---- very well, but go --- }

There was no computer in the office. Ax was very annoyed by that fact. It meant we would have to go back into the observatory to use the computer there.

His hooves slipped on the polished floor as we moved down the hall and into another room. He swung his eyes in every direction, keeping a sharp lookout.

He pushed the chair away from the computer workstation so he could do his thing with the computer.

I moved off to the side sitting in the chair that Ax had pushed.

{Password?} He laughed. I felt like I was sitting in a room with Willow while she hacked into some government super computer. Willow was always so much better at electronics than me. I was a book kind of girl. Still am.

{Still --- out here,} Tobias said.

"I hope the word I can't hear is 'okay.'" I told Ax.

He sent me a look that said 'me too.' {Almost done. Stay out of sight; I don't know the consequences-}

"I get it. Neither seen nor heard." I made with the zipper mouth motion and threw away the key. I moved out of the line of sight but to where I was still able to spy on the screen.

The screen flickered.

A face appeared. It was a hard, suspicious face. An Andalite face.

{Who is this?} The Andalite demanded. {This is a high security link. You are not an authorized sender. State your name and location.}

A not so very nice Andalite.

{My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Brother of Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. Son of Noorlin- Sirinial-Cooraf and Forlay-Esgarrouth-Maheen.}

The Andalite stared at him. {Elfangor's brother?} He wondered. Oh, yeah I knew that look. It was the look of being known only because of your famous older sibling. {What is your location?}

{My location is the planet called Earth.}

Or dimension AL3-linuar-1268, planet Earth. I think… because the numbers came to me out of nowhere.

{Earth!}

{Yes.}

{Is Prince Elfangor with you?}

I saw Ax waver for a moment. He had to know the question was coming but it couldn't have made it any easier.

{Who are you?} He asked.

He looked surprised that Ax would ask. {I am Ithileran-Halas-Corain. Assistant to the Head of Planetary Communications} Man, Andalite names… It was like demon names, only less dolphin-y. {Thank you. Ithileran, my brother's life . . . ended,} He said. {The Dome ship was destroyed. I am the only survivor.}

I could see that this was a surprise. Ithileran's eyes were downcast, and he lowered his stalk eyes I think it was a gesture of grief.

{Your brother was a great warrior. And I mourn also for the many other warriors aboard the Dome ship.}

{Elfangor was the greatest,} Ax said. {My family doesn't know he's dead. I would like you to connect me with them. I could get interrupted any minute.}

{I will do that. As soon as your family is found, I will connect you. But first, give me your report, aristh Aximili.}

I saw him try to gather his thoughts. {The Yeerks are here in force. There is at least one mother ship. Also one Blade ship belonging to Visser Three, and numerous Bug fighters. The humans are unaware of the invasion. I do not know how many humans have been made into Controllers, but there must be thousands, at least.}

{Then Earth is lost to the Yeerks?}

{No!} He said sharply. {Earth is not lost. There is a small resistance. A few humans. Young... arisths, like me. I fight alongside them.}

{But surely there is no hope of victory?}

{We have hurt the Yeerks,} He said. {We have destroyed the Kandrona that was in place on this planet.}

That got Ithileran's attention. That definitely got his attention. {You destroyed a Yeerk Kandrona? How did you manage that? You and a handful of human youths?}

{The humans ... the humans have the power to morph,} He said. {Visser Three believes they are a small band of escaped Andalites. Earth has many strange animals, and with the morphing we use those species to attack the Yeerks.}

{Humans who morph? And how did humans come by this technology?}

{It was given to them. By Elfangor.}

Ithileran looked startled. His eyes darted to the side and then he abruptly disappeared from the screen. In his place stood another Andalite. He was older and the lines of his face was much harsher than Ax or Elfangor's.

{You know who I am?}

{Yes. Yes, um. Yes. Yes, I know you. I mean, I don't know you, but I know who you are.} Oh my goddess, this Andalite turned Ax into Willow. He could be sprouting red fur and going gay as you read this.

He ignored Ax's babbling. {I mourn the loss of your brother and all aboard that ship. Now tell me: Did Elfangor break our laws and give technology to the humans?}

{Um, well ... the humans were helpless. Our force had been destroyed. There was nothing to stand between the humans and total domination by the Yeerks. They needed some weapon.}

{And how have you come to contact us? This is a Z-space transmissions.}

{I ... I ... I made some modifications to a primitive human device.}

{So, you also break the law. You also transfer technology to the humans.}

{The humans are not our enemies!} He said. I was surprised that he was practically yelling. {They won't have a chance. These few humans are all that resist the Yeerks on this planet. Elfangor knew that. He did what he thought was right!}

{Aristh Aximili, once before an Andalite did what he thought was the right thing. He transferred technology to a weak, backward species. He did it because he thought they should be able to travel to the stars. Do you know the name of that Andalite?} I didn't know what he was talking about, but I was drawn in. Something big was happening, I could feel it.

{Prince Seerow,} He said.

{Prince Seerow. Yes. He was my first prince. Did you know that? Many centuries ago when I was an aristh like you.} He looked at Ax

{Do you know what happened because of Seerow's Kindness?}

{Yes,} He said grimly. {Yes, I know. I have seen what happened because of Seerow's Kindness.}

For a moment no one spoke.

Then the older Andalite said, {Young Aximili, your brother Elfangor is a hero. The people need heroes in this endless war. I do not wish to tell the people that in the end, Elfangor broke the laws. There can be no forgiveness for a prince that breaks the laws. Unlike an aristh. So ... I ask you to think again. Was it truly Elfangor who gave this technology to the humans?}

Ax didn't say anything for a moment. {I...I was wrong when I said Elfangor did this,} He said. {It was ... it was me. I gave the humans the morphing technology.}

{Cut off from your prince, alone, not yet trained, not yet a true warrior, you broke the laws, aristh Aximili. Is this true?}

"No!" As soon as I said the word I knew I screwed up. Again.

The other Andalite's eyes hardened while still looking at Ax, {What did you do?}

I could see Ax was a loss for words. Damn, he was a better talker, normally.

{That would be one of the humans, aristh Aximili. Correct?}

"No, I am an evil, demon, midget bunny." I muttered.

Ax looked at me; I knew I had to give my darkest secret to big bully Andalite guy. {She is genetically human…}

"But my mind and essence is that of an unknown advance race that had long left earth. Or a creation of theirs, not too sure about that part yet." Or at least that is what Ax thinks. I stepped next to Ax and placed my hands on my hips, wishing I had Buffy's powerful glare.

{You followed him without his knowledge?}

"No, he invited me to the party knowing it would piss you guys off. He's a bad boy like that." I rolled my eyes. So I wasn't really lying, I just wasn't telling the truth.

Ax looked startled before stating, {That is a thing called sarcasm. It means-}

{I know sarcasm, aristh Aximili.} He looked right at me, {I am Lirem-Arrepoth-Terrouss, the Head of the Andalite Council. Who are you?}

"My human name is Dawn. I am also known as The Key, although no one really knows what that means. Hey, do you, by any chance-"

{Not now, Dawn.} Ax cut in. Oh man, he looked angry now that the shock has worn off.

"Oh well," I shrugged, "Go on, I'm only here because I was afraid Ax would be surrounded by Controllers due to the fact they we are in a place where humans look into space. Were Yeerk ships are. And, as Ax said, things break, so a backup plan has to be in place." I sat back in my seat, hoping that didn't sound like I was pulling that out of my ass. Because I was.

{In the name of the council, I forgive your error.} Lirem finally continued, I think he choose to pretend I wasn't there. Oh and it looked like the old dude was going through with the blaming Ax for giving us the morphing powers. {What's done is done. Perhaps ... in some way I am too old to see, this may all work out for the best.}

{Yes,} He said.

{Aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, you have done a brave thing, taking on this guilt. I know the temptation to go beyond the law when helping a brave people fight the Yeerks. I was an advisor to the Hork-Bajir. They were our allies, but they were not Andalites. They were not our people.}

So, he really was acting like I wasn't there.

{But. . .} Ax said and I could tell he was getting angry, {But the Hork-Bajir ended up losing everything.}

Lirem's eyes were cold. {You are an Andalite. You are not a human. Obey our laws. I am giving you an order: Resist the Yeerks. But give the humans no information and no technology. Do you understand my order, aristh Aximili?}

"Hello?" I said waving my hand, "Do I count?"

He glared at me for interrupting him before stating, {Only to the extent if your creating race.}

{I understand.} Ax said before I could run my mouth anymore.

{The fleet is engaged in many parts of the galaxy. We are doing well against the Yeerks. But it will be some time before we can come to Earth. Fight the Yeerks. If you are half the hero your brother was you will bring honor on your family.}

From what seemed like far away, I heard a faint voice in my head. {Ax --- on the move. ---guy. Think he --- .}

But at that very moment, Lirem said, {Aximili, we have your father. He would like to speak to you.}

{Dawn - you hear? -- there's -} I heard Tobias call.

{Aximili-kala,} Another Andalite, who must have been Ax and Elfangor's father appeared. Judging but the cutesy nickname.

{Yes, Father. It's me. It's me, Aximili. I'm on Earth. I don't know how long I can talk, not long.} He looked both happy and sad to see his father.

{Is your brother there?} That question again.

{Elfangor,} His father said. {Is he . . .}

{Father. Elfangor is ... he was killed.}

His father looked like someone had punched him. He rocked back.

Ax looked away and I caught his eyes, just for a moment. I wanted to help him, to tell him what to say to his father. But I really didn't know what to say; after all, I didn't have to tell mine anything. Not after we found out he had no idea who I was.

{Did he die well?} His father asked.

{He died in the service of his people, defending freedom,} He said.

His father nodded. {And has his death been avenged?}

{No, Father.}

His father looked up at him. {You are now the eldest son. The burden of revenge is on you. Do you know his killer?}

{Yes.}

{And does his killer still live?}

{Yes.}

{And do you, Aximili, take up the burden of avenging your brother's death?}

Well I'm glad I didn't have this talk with my dad, or I would end up having to killing myself.

{Yes.} It meant Ax had to kill Visser Three.

{I am so relieved to see that you are still well,} His father said.

{Yes. I ... I wanted to see you,} He said. {I couldn't - }

A beam of light almost hit Ax as we both turned to see a human man standing in the behind us holding the just fired Dracon beam.

"You and I have a lot to talk about, Andalite. Quite a lot." The Controller said as Ax stepped away from the screen and I slide up to talk to his father.

"Hi, Ax's father. Sorry to cut the conversation short but we ran into a little problem. And the problem has a Dracon beam so that means bad." I heard a screech as Tobias came in. "Um, I don't think Aximili will be back so just know he's being taking care of. Oh! And that Elfangor died a real hero's death. Trust me I know heroes." I didn't know if he could understand me but I tried anyways.

I turned to leave before Ax's father called to me, {Wait, what is your name, the one who looks after my son?}

"Dawn." I smiled at him.

{Aximili is blessed then. To have a rising sun to care for him.}

"If only he saw it that way." At that the screen went blank. Okay, back to the Controller, who was in the middle of a conversation with Ax.

{No. What does my brother have in common with a Yeerk?} Ax asked.

Eslin's, that was his name, human face twisted into an expression of rage. "They were both killed by the same being."

{Visser Three?} Ax asked. I was trying to catch up to what I missed.

"As I said, you and I have a lot in common, Andalite." He struggled to gain control over his human face, but his jaw was twitching as he explained. "You Andalite bandits did a lot of damage by destroying the Kandrona. There is widespread starvation. The most important Yeerks, those in vital positions, or those whom the Visser happens to favor, are being shuttled back and forth to the mother ship every three days. They get a minimal dose of Kandrona rays. Enough to keep them alive."

{Do you expect me to feel badly?} He asked.

"No, I expect the usual Andalite self-righteousness and hypocrisy from you," Eslin spat. "Andalites. The meddlers of the galaxy." He looked at me with the same anger in his eyes and I realized that he didn't know I was human. He thought I was an Andalite in human morph.

{Do not anger me, Yeerk. I said I would listen. I did not say I would let you spew Yeerk poison.}

Eslin made a grim smile. "I knew you'd come. As soon as I saw the new software, I said to myself, 'Aha, not the usual clumsy human effort, this.' An Andalite corrected this software. An Andalite who wanted to use the radio telescope as a Z-space transmitter. I've been waiting for you. I knew you'd come."

Ax had accidentally corrected some work Marco's dad had lying around.

{And here I am,}

"My Derane ... we came from the same pool. We went through training together. She and I ... we had been together for a long time. We were very close. She understood me. But I had this important post at the observatory, while Derane was given a minor post. When you Andalite bandits destroyed the ground-based Kandrona, Visser Three moved quickly. He said everyone would survive. He said he had found a way. But he lied. Too many Yeerks, not enough Kandrona rays. It was simple division. So he shuttled so- called important Controllers up to the mother ship. And the rest. . ."Eslin seemed to notice the bloody gashes on his arm for the first time. He touched them gingerly. They must have been made by Tobias with his talons. "You Andalites must love this planet. So many nasty species for you to morph."

"Was your Derane one of the ones killed?" I asked.

"She was 'expendable,'" Eslin said. Then he smiled. "I've had some small revenge already. The Visser's favorites are shuttled up to the mother ship every three days to feed. I sabotaged one of the shuttles. That threw off the feeding schedule. Now some of the Visser's friends are starving and dying. Like my Derane died."

{That's why we're starting to see Controllers losing it,} Tobias said privately to us. {That's why it took so long. Visser Three had it under control till this guy messed with his plan.}

{Are you finished, Eslin?} He asked him. {I've heard your story. Is there a point to it?}

"Ah. You want the point of the story. Yes, of course. The point. The point is this: Visser Three inhabits an Andalite body. And sometimes he feeds like an Andalite."

"He feeds like an Andalite, almost alone. He has guards of course, but they stay back. He is vulnerable. Vulnerable. And I know the place where he feeds."

{Why are you telling me this, Yeerk?}

"Why?" He bared his human teeth in a grimace of rage. "Because I want him dead. I want Visser Three dead! He killed my Derane. He killed the only one in the galaxy I have ever had feelings for. He did it. And I want him to pay with his life, the foul, half-Andalite scum. I want him DEAD!"

He calmed himself down, at least a little. He reminded me of Spike when Dru left. A heartbroken rage of the soulless. He pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket.

He placed in my hand. "Time and place," he said. "You have a few days to prepare."

"This could be a trap." I said looking at the paper.

Eslin sneered. "I could have killed you here. You have your duty, Andalite. The burden of revenge. Your brother's killer. Your greatest enemy. You Andalites are great ones for duty. So do your duty, Andalite."

I looked at Ax I didn't have to ask, I already knew the choice he would make. I know the choice I would have made in the same position. I just had to make sure I would be there on… Tuesday. Bad omen. Bad, bad omen.

~*~

He didn't know I would follow him, after all, I did not see any of them for the last couple of days. I even missed a meeting at the barn. You see, I got kidnapped. Again. By a demon. A dancing demon. A singing, dancing demon which Xander accidentally sent me the summoning talisman after he summoned the damn thing.

Luckily, I found out that if I morphed a ferret Sweet, the demon, didn't want to have me as his child bride anymore. Then I had to fly back from Sunnydale, which took days.

On the bright side no one in Sunnydale found out I was there and I was able to get back in time to hopefully save a couple of Alien's lives.

It didn't take me long to realize the others were hidden in the surrounding woods as well.

They were all in attack morphs. Tobias must have told them.

I saw a flash of blue deformed snake and knew Ax must have morphed the rattle snake.

I, on the other hand, was hidden in a tree. A plain human, in no morph. I was also surprised the others didn't see me until I dropped down… And fell on my ass.

{Two Hork-Bajir guarding the Bug fighters,} Tobias announced. {One Hork-Bajir in the ... Oh, never mind, Cassie and Marco just took him down. Visser Three and two Hork-Bajir in the center of the meadow. Dawn? Where the hell have you been?}

"I got kidnapped by a perverted old man." I told them. "No really," I said, "I didn't escape because I wanted to make sure he wasn't going to try it again. Trust me I don't think he's gonna."

{Come on,} Rachel said to Ax. {Let's go have a nice talk with Visser Three.}

{He's my responsibility,} He said to Rachel. {I have an obligation of honor.}

{Uh-huh. He's all yours.} She said as she took off.

{You told them, Tobias,} Ax accused him. But he was looking at me.

{Yeah, I sure did. I got the idea from you. You're the one who said you had to obey your prince. Well, I guess Jake is my prince, too. He ordered me to tell him.}

{How did you know where I was going?} I asked. {I never told you. Dawn, she could have read the paper but she has been missing.}

{Puh-leeze. That Controller, Eslin Whatever? He wrote it down, Ax-man. You forget: I have hawk's eyes. I can see a flea on a cat from a hundred feet away. You think I couldn't read that note?}

{You make me very angry, Tobias,} He said.

{Yeah, and you get on my nerves, too, Ax. But we still have a fight on our hands. Let's go deal with Visser Three.}

"What about me?" I asked him, "Do I make you angry."

{I am upset that you let me worry about your safety, Dawn.} He said.

"I guess that means you care, huh?" I smiled and rushed after the other stumbling my way there.

Rachel, a huge, rolling brown tidal wave. Above us Tobias flew.

Just as we drew close, I saw Visser Three stagger.

The venom! Ax must have bit him in rattle snake morph.

Visser Three buckled and fell to the ground.

The two Hork-Bajir quailed. They saw Rachel barreling through the tall grass. They saw Jake, a striped demon coming from the other side. They saw Marco in gorilla morph and Cassie, an eager wolf, teeth bared.

Tobias had reached the Visser. He soared past him and up, up, up into the air, beating frantically. Worst of all, they saw an Andalite. The enemy they feared most.

{Your Visser is finished,} Ax called to them. {You can die with him, or you can run.}

The Hork-Bajir Controllers made their decision quickly. Hork-Bajir can be very fast, once they decide to run.

The Visser was down. Alone. Helpless, as we came to a stop in a circle around him. He was as helpless as Elfangor had been at the end.

I looked up. Why was Tobias . . . ?

{No way!} Tobias cried.

He drew back his wings and dived at full speed. He plummeted toward the earth at racing speed, killing speed! His talons came forward. It looked as if he would hit the ground. Then …

{NO! NO! NO!} Tobias cried. He swooped up and away, back up into the sky.

{Tobias, what is it?} I heard Jake yell in thought-speak.

{He bailed! He bailed! The Yeerk bailed out! He got to the water. I can't see him. He got away!}

{What?} Ax cried. {What happened?}

{He's out! Visser Three! He's out. I saw him worming his way through the grass.} It was impossible to believe.

"He left his body?" I asked. "Visser Three left his host?"

{He crawled right out of the Andalite head and slithered into the water,} Tobias confirmed. {There's a fast current. I can't see beneath the surface of the water that well. I can't see him!}

{Kill me,} the Andalite managed to gasp. {Kill me before he takes me over again. Please.  
Please kill me.}

{I may already have killed you, my friend,} Ax said. {The snake . . .}

{No. You don't understand. Visser Three . . . he has backup forces ready. They'll be here in minutes. Half a dozen Bug fighters. They'll keep this body alive; your poison is too slow.}

{I . . . but you're an Andalite. I can't kill you,} I said desperately. {I can't. . .}

{He'll take me again,} the Andalite said, begging. {The Yeerks will find him and bring me to him again. Please. I can't live that way . . . please. The things I've seen . . . you don't understand. It's horrible.}

I knelled next to him, "I understand." I took one of his hands, "More than you will ever understand. Just because it is your body doing horrible things does not mean it has to be a stain on your heart."

{You are human?}

I smiled, "I am now."

He gave a small nod, {A nothlit.} I couldn't tell him the truth. It would endanger too many people.

He tried to raise his own Andalite tail. He tried to bring the blade to his throat. But the venom had weakened him. His tail fell limp.

{I understand} he said at last, with sadness so deep it burned me to hear. {Listen... My name is... what is my name? It's been so long. And the poison... Yes, that's it. My name is Alloran-Semitur-Corrass. I was once a war-prince. Someday... Someday, if you survive... I have a wife. I have two children...Someday… Tell them I still hope... Tell them I still have love for them...}

{Yes, War-Prince Alloran. I will tell them. Do you have any other orders for me?} He reached up with his other weakened hand. Ax took it in his. {Fight them. They are stronger than you think. They have... They have infiltrated... They are on the home world... Fight...}

His fingers were limp. He fell silent, unconscious.

Ax set his hand down and stood up, but I held on just for a moment longer. I absorbed his DNA. If Alloran wanted us to fight… If he really did than there was not better way than to become one's enemy.

~*~

"Give me liberty or give me death." A human named Patrick Henry said that. I wonder if the Yeerks knew before they came to conquer Earth that humans said things like that. I wonder if the Yeerks knew what they were getting into. - From the Earth Diary of Aximlli-Esgarrouth-Isthill

{We call it the law of Seerow's Kindness,} Ax said.

We were in the woods close to where Ax lived.

Two days had passed since the terrible events in the meadow. I gave Ax the space he needed. After all I have to explain my own disappearance to everyone. Including the Scoobies.

"What's it mean?" Rachel asked with her arms crossed across her chest.

{It means that we are not allowed to transfer advanced technology to any other race,} He explained. {It is a very important law. One of our most important laws.}

"You don't want any competition," Marco said. "You Andalites want to be able to stay on top. I understand that. But humans are on your side. We're the ones being taken over."

"Marco," Prince Jake said. "Chill. Let Ax tell his own story."

{Seerow was a great Andalite. A warrior. A scientist. He ... he was in charge of the first Andalite expedition to the Yeerk home world.}

Everyone stiffened but I had already guessed, based on what I heard between Ax and Andalite cranky butt.

Tobias flitted to a lower branch, drawing closer.

{Seerow felt sorry for the Yeerks. They were an intelligent species. They used a primitive species called Gedds as hosts. But the Gedds were nearly blind, clumsy, and not very useful. The Yeerks had never even seen the stars. Let alone been able to leave their own planet. Seerow felt sorry for them. Seerow was a kind, decent Andalite...}

"Oh my God," Cassie whispered. "That's the big secret. That's the shame the Andalites are hiding."

"Cassie…" I didn't want them to hurt his feelings.

"What?" Rachel asked. "What's the big secret?"

"Seerow gave the Yeerks advanced technology, didn't he?" Cassie asked.

He nodded. {Seerow thought the Yeerks should be able to travel to the stars, as we did. At first, it seemed like the right thing to do. But then ... A species called the Nahara. ... By the time we found out, it was too late. The entire species was enslaved by the Yeerks. Then came the Hork-Bajir. The Taxxons. And other planets . . . Other races were falling to the Yeerk Empire. They spread like a disease! Millions . . . Billions of free people have been enslaved or destroyed by the Yeerks. Because of Seerow. Because of us. Because of the Andalites.}

"Elfangor broke the law of Seerow's Kindness, though, right?" Marco pointed out.

{Yes. But I will take the blame for him. Elfangor was a great hero. His name would be destroyed. I'm a nobody. I have taken the blame. If I help you, and you humans become a new race of conquerors, if you become the new Yeerks someday, my people will talk about Aximili's Kindness. And I'll be the one who goes down in history as the new example of a fool.}

I saw Rachel make a small smile and shake her head. Marco rolled his eyes. He said, "Man, and I really was getting into disliking you, Ax."

"You still have me, I have plenty of secrets. Dancing demons and all."

"Your imaginary friends are not secrets, trust me." Marco said. Sometimes I think that they really believe I am crazy.

{Don't you understand? Your world is threatened by the Yeerks because of my people.}

Jake nodded. "Yes, we understand, Ax. A long time ago someone tried to be nice and it was a disaster. This Seerow person tried to be a good guy. He hoped all the different people of the galaxy would get along. That we'd all go to the stars together."

{Yes, and the result was terrible.}

"Ax, you don't stop hoping just because it doesn't always work out," Cassie said. "You get more careful. You get wiser, maybe. But you keep hoping."

"Look, Ax," Jake said, "We don't want you to give us any Andalite technology. We don't want you to break your laws. We just want you to trust us. Tell us the truth. Be one of us."

"You aren't alone, Ax," Cassie said softly. "Maybe we aren't your people, but we are your friends."

"I mean, if Dawn is one of us, you don't be the odd one. And your boy Seerow wasn't wrong," Marco said. "He just hooked up with the wrong species. We aren't the Yeerks. We're Homo sapiens, Jack. Humans. Andalites want someone to cruise the stars with them? We're the ones. You bring the spaceships. We'll bring the Raisinets and cinnamon buns."

{You'll do more than that,} He said. You learn very quickly. Someday you may be greater than the Andalites.}

"No, Axis," I said. "Because whatever we learn, you'll learn. We'll do it together. Human and Andalite. Andalite and human."

{It isn't possible,} He said. {We are two different species. From two different worlds, a billion Earth miles apart.}

{Ax-man?} Tobias said. {Tell me: What does an Andalite want most? What is it you guys are fighting for?}

{For freedom, of course,} Ax said.

{And what do humans want most?} Tobias asked.

"Freedom," Prince Jake said.

"Freedom," Rachel said, nodding her head.

"Freedom," said Marco and Cassie together.

"For Fox to make another season of the Dollhouse." I felt Marco reach over and hit me in the back my head. "Freedom! Geez!"

{Freedom,} Tobias said. {Different bodies, different species, maybe. But who cares? We agree on what matters.}

For a few minutes he didn't say anything then he laughed. {See? It's happening already,} He said.

"What?" Rachel asked.

{You humans are already teaching Andalites something new,} I said. {You're right. We fight the same battle, for the same goal.}

"The Andalites on your home world may not like that idea," Rachel said.

{No. They won't. They have their laws and customs. They think they know what's right. If I ever go home, I'll have a lot to explain.}

{Maybe so,} Tobias said. {But I know one Andalite who would have been proud of you.}

"Are you with us?" Jake asked.

{Yes, Prince Jake,} He said.

"Don't call me 'Prince.'"

{Yes, Prince Jake,} He said again.

"All right," Marco said, rubbing his hands together. "Now that's over with. And now that we are finally all leveling and telling the truth ... I think we have one very big question for Ax. One huge question that will put our new friendship to the test. One gigantic question."

The others nodded in agreement.

{What?} He asked nervously.

"How, how, HOW do you eat without a mouth?" Marco demanded.

Ax laughed. {We eat as we run. Our hooves crush the grass, and the nutrients are absorbed into our systems, we drink in the same way, by putting a hoof into water.}

I was laughing. Ax had already explained this to me. I had kind of cornered him into telling me, and I watched at the others processed what he said.

{Ahhh, so that's what the whole thing is with the morning ritual, when you stick a hoof in the  
water,} Tobias said.

"Morning ritual? What morning ritual?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, tell us," Cassie said.

{Okay,} He agreed. {I will tell you everything. Everything I know.}

He looked at Tobias, I could see him smile. It was that beautiful thing he did with his eyes when he was happy.

I didn't know what he thought when he looked at me. I was a friend. Just a friend, right?

AN- I have a short story that I took out of this chapter, due to it getting too long, about the time Dawn spent with Sweet in Sunnydale. I'll have it out in a few days. So this is the third rewrite of this chapter. Originally it was written in Ax' POV, like K.A's actual book, but I switched it to Dawn because I am much better as writing her. And my Ax came off like an ass. Other than that I had Dawn save Alloran, which work out well until later. Mainly I changed it because once I got to Book 18 I couldn't make it work. If Alloran was Visser Three than he would know which Andalites are Yeerk spies. (Like he mentioned in this one.)

I fixed a problem in the last chapter regarding Connor's age and fixed a few grammar things, but nothing big.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own BTVS or Animorphs.

AN- I had this chapter typed up for over a week but my husband is at a WLC, an Army training thing, and can't correct it. So I split the chapter in two hoping its uncorrected nature is less striking.

The Android (Part one)-

It was raining the night that Spike finally made it to town. If he had come just one day earlier he would have been in the middle of a small Yeerk forest logging mess we had found ourselves in. In the end it was all worth it. Ax and his home in the forest were safe and Visser Three still smelled like skunk. Thanks to Cassie and her skunk morph.

I was standing on the corner around from my house as the rain fell on then off my bright yellow rain coat. I watched the headlights of passing cars and tried to make out the drivers, fighting the glare coming from the headlights. It didn't work really well, and since I wasn't living in the 'sunniest' part of town there were a number of drivers who took my stares the wrong way. A really, really wrong way.

As yet another car pulled up next to me, I sighed. "Look, I am not a hooker. And I don't care if you are Richard Gere, I don't-"

"Well, that's a relief, Bit. Get in the bloody car before the gaver comes to picks you up and I have to eat 'em."

"Whatever," I said getting into the car, making sure I got as much rain water on Spike and the inside of the car as I could. "Your chip says you can't."

"Ouch, bit. Don't remember you biting so hard there."

"Had to toughen up a little, Spike." I told him.

"You talkin' about this epic battle you got yourself into." He asked glancing at me.

"War, Spike. Epic war…At least, I think its epic." I motioned to my drive way, and paused as we pulled up. "Uh, my uncle doesn't know anything, so, yeah."

"So what, bit?" Spike put the car in park and turned towards me, he looked just like he did when I left months ago. I shouldn't have been surprised, he was a vampire, he didn't age or change, no matter what kind of hell life threw at him.

Not like us.

"So… Everything is a hush-hush, Spike. No 'I am vampire, Sookie.'"

"I fashion myself more of an 'I am the Vampire Lestat' kind of announcement."He rolled down a window and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, "But this is about the fact that you are sitting in here, with your arms crossed dreading walking in the door."

"Spike…" I knew this would come up, but I was praying it would wait until after Spike understood what was at stake. No pun attended.

"I'll rip him apart, bit. I don't give a bloody damn about the chip." I think he may have made the statement out of reaction, but I knew he was serious.

"You'll understand, Spike. I know you will." I turned towards him, wrapping my arms around one of my legs. "Remember when we ran from Glory? In that stupid motor-home being chased by even stupider knights and Giles got hurt, and then our dumbasses brought Glory right to us?"

Spike winced; I guess it was still pretty fresh in his mind. "Yeah, not that I want ta."

"It's that bad. Worse, because this time we have no one that remembers that Ben is Glory. These things we are fighting can't been seen, it's… Well, it's not like anything any of us have ever faced, and like all of them at the same time." I took a deep breath and after a moment went forward. "Its aliens."

~*~

I wasn't too sure why Jake and Marco called everyone to the barn the next day, but I wasn't happy about it. I was tired from staying up all night and I needed time to think just how I was going to get Spike to think clearly. He seems to think that kidnapping me and dragging me off somewhere the Yeerks couldn't find us is a good idea. I told him it's pointless unless he knows where a Stargate was hidden. That earned me a glare.

But I complied to Jake's orders, especially because I was already in trouble due to my disappearance a couple weeks ago where I seemed to forget how to use a phone. Opps. I blame it on the dancing demon.

"He didn't smell," Marco told us starting the meeting. He and Jake had morphed into a dog to sneak into a concert (Can you spell H.Y.P.O.C.R.I.T.E?) and along the way found someone handing out flyers for The Sharing. The kid, someone from our school named Erek King, bent down to pet Marco (as a dog of course because I don't think Marco swings like that) and I guess he didn't smell…

"I still don't get why Nine Inch Nails and Alanis Morrisette was playing at the same place." I said.

"What do you mean, he didn't smell?" Rachel demanded, ignoring my very valid question. What's next…? Snoop Dog and the Dixie Chicks?

"I mean that he didn't smell. He had picked up some odors off other people, off the ground, off other dogs, whatever, but he had no smell himself. None. Like a black hole of smell. Like nothing there, nobody home." Marco said. Great the incredible smell-less man. Boy… Person.

"Maybe you just didn't notice it," Rachel suggested.

"Rachel, you've been in wolf morph," Jake said. "You know how good your sense of smell is? Well, the dog's sense of smell is almost that good."

Rachel shook her head. That's what she does when she's frustrated.

"Shh," Jake said suddenly. "I thought I heard something."

{It's just a squirrel up on the roof} Tobias assured him in thought-speak.

"You sure?" Jake asked.

Tobias stopped preening and stared down at Jake. His hawk stare grew even more intense. {Am I sure? I do know what a squirrel sounds like.}

Jake nodded and looked a little embarrassed. Hawks not only have amazingly good eyes, their hearing is better than human, too. And Tobias knows the sounds that prey make. He has to. Asking Tobias if he recognizes squirrel sounds would be like asking Einstein if he knows how to add two plus two.

Marco tried to bring us all back to the topic. "So, what does it mean if a kid doesn't smell like a human?"

"There are plenty of times when you don't smell human," Rachel said with a smirk. "But then, maybe that's because you have a small monkey living on top of your head."

Cassie made a snorking sound as she tried not to laugh.

"Next time you decide to get a haircut, talk to me first," Rachel said. Marco used to have long, dark hair that looked good with his dark-ish Hispanic complexion. But now he went cut his hair all off. It didn't look bad; we just weren't used to it.

"He doesn't smell, and he's handing out flyers for The Sharing," Marco said.

"He must be connected to the Yeerks," Rachel said with a shrug.

"But how?" Cassie asked. She was pushing a duck back into his cage. "I mean, Yeerks infest various species -- humans, Hork-Bajir, Taxxons. But that doesn't change the fact that a human with a Yeerk in his head should still smell like a human. You know?"

"Chapman is a Controller. He still smells human," I pointed out. "And by the way, I can't believe I'm even talking about how the vice principal smells."

Jake shrugged. "I guess we need to find out what's going on with Erek."

"But how do we find him?" Marco asked. "Infiltrate a meeting of The Sharing?"

{I could do surveillance of his school} Tobias said.

"Or maybe we could go back to where the concert was and look for clues," Rachel said. Then she winced. "Wow, that sounded so Nancy Drew."

"Maybe Ax can try and tap into the Internet and get past all the security buffers and locate him," Marco suggested.

I held up my hand, "Those are all fine plans, but how about if we just look him up in the phone book?"

They all stared at me.

"Or we could just look him up in the phone book," Jake said sheepishly.

Cassie headed for the house to get a phone book.

"You know, she is just not getting the whole superhero thing," Marco said to Jake. "Does Wolverine look things up in the phone book? Does Spider-man? I don't think so."

"I bet Blade did." I muttered. Blade was kind of my favorite super hero. For obvious reasons.

"Yeah, well, Wolverine has a big advantage over us," Rachel said dryly. "He's not real." Then she snapped her fingers. "That's what that hair of yours reminds me of: a wolverine. I knew it was something."

"Oh, yeah?" Marco shot back. "Well, how about your . . . your ..."

"My what?" Rachel asked coolly, with the absolute confidence of a girl who never looked less than perfect.

"Your tallness," He said lamely. "You're . . . tall. Way tall."

Somehow this brilliant comeback did not cause Rachel to break down in tears.

Cassie came back carrying the white pages, already open to the 'Knowledge's.'

"There are twenty- seven 'Kings'" listed. But you said he transferred to Truman, so there are maybe six 'Kings' that are in that part of town."

"We work our way down the list," Marco said. "Although he still could have an unlisted phone."

"I can't hang out tonight," Jake said. "I have got to write that English paper."

"Here's a clue on the English paper. Don't say 'I have got to,'" I teased.

"I could go tomorrow, maybe," Rachel said. "But not tonight. My dad is in town just for tonight. He's taking me and my sisters to Planet Hollywood."

Cassie looked at me. "I'm free," she said.

{I'm good till it gets dark} Tobias volunteered. Hawks aren't much use at night.

"I have Spike in town but he… is busy until later tonight." I said. "So I can hang as long as Toby."

"Fine. Me and Cassie, Dawn and Tobias till it gets dark," Marco said. "Shouldn't be too hard. Our mission: to find the boy who doesn't smell."

"Maybe he just showers a lot," Rachel said. "Did you think about that?"

~*~

We found Eric's house but didn't really find anything out of the ordinary, normal house, with a normal family and all that good stuff. But I know normal on the outside does not mean normal on the inside.

I flew as an owl over the city. I left the others a little while ago to find Spike, I didn't know where he spent the day, but I had a few guesses.

I circled around an all night butcher shop, no joke look them up… they're everywhere, looking for motels close by. I found him walking down the street carrying a large paper bag; I didn't have to guess what's in it.

{Spike!} I called out flying lower.

It was actually kind of funny watching Spike spinning in circles trying to find where my voice came from. "Bit?"

{Up, Spike.} I said landing on a light pole.

"Are you the little birdie up there?" Spike asked shifting the bag in his arms.

{I'm an owl, not a birdie.} I was still a little defensive since he totally put down our ability earlier. {Where are you staying?}

"A little crack motel down the way. You gonna race me?"

I laughed a little, {I would so win.}

I was on the railing by the room number he gave me before he even made it to the motel. He moved passes me to open the locked door and waited for me to swoop in before stepping in.

Moments later I was sitting in front of Spike in me trailer trash morphing outfit, he raised an eyebrow at my clothes but I just shrugged it away, attempting to stare him down.

"I know, okay? No need to glare at me with the evil 'Summers' eye. Got plenty of that from big sis."

"You hurt me, Spike. You were sitting across from me saying I can't do the same thing as Buffy and the others did because I'm not her. I'm the same age, almost," I rolled my eyes as he gave me a look, "And we might not know exactly what we are doing but neither did Xander, or Willow, or Buffy. Out of everyone, I though you would stand behind me. That you would understand why I am doing this, what I am fighting for."

Spike had pulled a bag of pig blood out and filled a cup, "It's not about the slayer, bit. It's about your mum. It ate her up, what big sis was doin' and here you are doing the same thing, after I promised, PROMISED, both of them to care for you."

"And you will care for me… Just from a distance. I'll tell them it was your demonic talking hand's fault." I kicked my legs back and forth as I laid on my stomach.

"Talking hand? Wait never mind, I remember. Bloody cartoon." He said shaking his head.

"I think Tara would have died." I held my breath waiting for his reaction.

I watched at Spike head shot up. "What?"

"If Buffy had been brought back, you know? I keep having dreams, like visions of what would have been. I can't remember most of them, but I remember Tara and a lot of blood. And Anya in a wedding dress covered in blood." I gave an odd expression, "Although I think the last one may still happen given who she is planning on inviting to the wedding."

"If you saved someone's life you may have also ended another." He said taking a sip of his now warmed blood.

"I know and it kind of scares me. I wish the Ellimist explained more to me like is there an equal give and take or is it just based off how things are played from here on." I winced and rubbed my eyes.

"Ellimist?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, he is like one of the PTB or a messenger or something like that. I know that he practically told Whistler off, like, majorly."

"Those higher power types are always a pain in the ass. They never tell you what you need to know when you need to know it."

"Yeah." I sighed and realized we made up over our dislike of having our strings pulled. "So, have you ever met someone that didn't smell?"

~*~

I had spent the night talking to Spike going over every mission we had up until out current one. Spike had never met someone that did not smell. No surprise there, even vampires smell like dead people.

However, it seemed that while I was hanging out with Spike, Marco and Tobias saw something and gathered everyone in the woods.

I laughed as Ax came into the clearing by making a galloping leap over Rachel. It was so dramatic that even Rachel had to appreciate it.

{Hello, Prince Jake. Hello Marco, Rachel, Dawn. Cassie? Did you lose something?}

Cassie stood up from where she was kneeling. Then, as an afterthought, she brushed off her knees. "Baby opossums," she said, by way of explanation. "Too big for the pouch, but not ready to leave the den."

"Don't tell Tobias," Marco said. "He'll eat 'em."

{I already know about them.} Tobias said.

I looked up in surprise. He was in the tree above me. I hadn't heard him arrive.

Cassie shrugged. "Tobias is a hawk. He has a right to be a hawk." Then she looked up at Tobias and smiled."Of course, they are awfully cute."

{Oh, man} Tobias groaned. {Okay, okay, this litter is off-limits. Happy now?}

"You're a sweetheart, Tobias," Cassie said.

"It could be worse, it could be kittens. He doesn't eat kittens." I said.

{She made me promise.} He told the others, {We should move while we talk, there are some kids playing soldier just about three hundred yards west. Let's stay well out of range.}

We all started walking east, and Tobias went up again to scout ahead for any danger.

"Okay, Marco," Jake said after a few minutes. "This is your party. What's up?"

"So we were following Erek around like birdie commando spy's when a group of bullies started chasing him. Right in front of a bus. Here's where it gets creepy. When the bus hit he turned into this metallic and plastic looking thing. A moment later it was Erek again. Laying there." He told us, "So, Ax, you're the official alien. What does this sound like to you?"

Ax turned his head toward him, making eye contact with his main eyes. {Marco? Something has happened to your hair. I believe it has become shorter. Are you suffering from some sort of illness?}

"That does it!" Marco yelled, as the we all broke up giggling. "It'll grow out, all right? It'll grow out. Besides, it's easier to take care of. Man! I make one little change!"

{Have I said something wrong?} Ax wondered.

"No," I assured him. "Not at all. Marco is just a little sensitive. Go ahead, Ax. What do you think about this Erek person?"

{I do not know. It ... it doesn't sound like any species I know of.}

"What? Dude, you're the expert on aliens," Marco rudely pointed out.

{Marco, even we Andalites don't know every species in the galaxy.}

"You don't recognize the description?" Jake asked.

{No.}

"The way you guys describe it, it sounds more like a robot or something," Rachel ventured. "But how does it pass for human?"

Damn, I should have thought of that. Hello! Buffy-bot anyone?

{Oh, that is technologically possible,} Ax said, relieved to be able to add something to our speculation. {It's probably a holographic projection. Like your primitive TV, only three-dimensional}

"Primitive TV? Hey, we have cable at my house," Marco said.

Ax didn't think it was funny, but Cassie smiled. Tobias swooped low over our heads and came to rest on a branch.

"So when Erek gets hit by the bus, he drops the hologram for just a split second." I said.

{The power supply may have been interrupted or overloaded} Ax suggested. {But that's the interesting question: What power supply? It would take a great deal of power to maintain such a hologram, hour after hour, day after day.}

"Is there any way to see through this hologram?" Cassie asked.

"We could hit him with something as big as a bus," Rachel suggested.

"Now, there's a classic Rachel suggestion," Marco said with a laugh.

"Marco found out The Sharing is having a little waterskiing thing up at the lake," Jake said. He bit his lip and added, "Tom told him. Erek is in The Sharing. He'll probably be there, too. Perfect chance for us to get a good look at him. That's the 'where.' Now we just need the 'how.'"

Ax thought for a moment as we ambled through the woods. {The hologram is meant to trick humans. It would be tuned for human sight. Hawk eyes are better than human, but still see similar wavelengths of light. Maybe a totally different sort of vision would be able to penetrate the hologram.}

My heart sank. I knew what was coming next. Some gross morph.

"Unusual vision is our specialty," Rachel said with a careless laugh.

"No bugs, okay?" Marco said. "All I'm saying is, no more insect morphs. Is that too much to ask?"

~*~

When I came home I didn't think Craig, my uncle, would be there. It was the day the check came from CPS for my care which usually means he is out at the bars blowing through as much of the eight-hundred dollars in over priced alcohol as he could in one night.

When I stepped in the moldy front door I knew something was off. There sitting at the coffee table was my uncle, going through paper work. It almost looked like he is paying bills. He couldn't be paying bills, could he?

"Dawn?" I flinched as I heard the voice, "Come here."

I slowly walked into the room, my pace so very slow.

"I've stop drinking."

I blinked, out of all the things that could have come out of his mouth, after all the things I had gone though in the last few months, this is what he says.

"I, ah…" What could I say? Please don't, I need you to be gone all day and night without you noticing, so please, be a drunk. But… If you could lay off the hitting thing I would feel really appreciated. And it might save your life, considering who calls me family.

"I know you don't believe me, and I don't deserve any chance," He stood and took my hands, "But I am sure I am not going to fail."

Something was off, so off, "You… You're…"

"From now on I am going to be a different person, I feel like a different person."

"Why? I mean, what made you want to, you know?"

"I was sponsored for a new alcohol treatment. It is run by a group called the Sharing." He paused, "They have a teen organization, and maybe you could come with me one time."

My heart seemed to stop beating, and I could feel my face cool from a loss of blood. "I don't think so," My mouth seemed to work without blood, just like Willow's lungs worked without air. "You know me, a loner. Lone, lone, loner. Like John Wayne, cowboy and everything."

So I took a step back, he took a step forward, "Dawn, don't be afraid. You see, we're going to part of something bigger."

I felt my calves hit the worn couch and I knew there wasn't anywhere else for me to run, "I, AHHH." I cried as he suddenly rushed forward. My eyes were closed tightly in anticipation, waiting to be dragged from the room against my will.

But instead I heard a dull thud followed by a crack. I opened my eyes, jumping back as I saw my uncle laying on the ground his neck at an odd angle.

"Bloody hell."

My head shot up, not knowing there was anyone else there. Of course there was, it not like a man suddenly falls to the left when he is moving forward. An outside force must interrupt the forward motion with an unbalanced force. Great, I now hear non-present aliens in my head.

"Bit, I didn't mean to. I just pushed him away from you." I could hear Spike's voice but his words seemed to pass by without comprehension. "Niblet? Come on, back to reality now." I felt him take me by my shoulders.

Finally, as what happened sunk in I did the only think I could. I turned and vomited all over the already dirty floor, adding the smell of putrid stomach acid to the metallic smell new death.

"What are we going to do?" I asked as I wiped my mouth with my sleeve. "What the hell are we going to do now? We have a goddamn dead body, my uncle's body, in the middle of the room!"

"Maybe no one would notice? You said he was a bit of a drunk." Spike said, most likely trying to calm me.

"Was, he's a controller now, he…" I stopped and looked down, "He was a Yeerk. The Yeerk!"

I went to the body looking closely at the floor. Not next to the body, not on the table he had broken his neck on, not under the couch. I moved on my hands and knees throughout the entire living room. Where the hell could it be?

"Looking for me?" An unaccented, but very familiar voice said.

(AN- So a few small notes, one- In the original book it really is NIN and Alanis playing at the same place. And I really was confused about that. I still am. Two- There was times when a Yeerk has dropped a host's accent when it was not needed and I thought it worked here. Three- Yep I'm evil for leaving it there. Part Two coming soon. PS, still looking for a beta if someone if interested because I am totally screwed when my husband deploys in a few months.)


	6. Chapter 6

AN- Sorry this took so long but... This a mega long chapter for you guys. No joke. As always, I am open to corrections because I do not have a beta for this story. And if anyone wants the job tell me and these chapters would be out much faster. I hope you like it. :)

I do not own any thing used in this story. Sorry.

The Android (Part Two)-

I turned very slowly. Spike stood there with his arms crossed over his chest a small smirk taunting me, no, the Yeerk in his head stood taunting me.

"So you're human, all of you. And this host is dead." The Yeerk said.

"_Vampire, you bloke!"_ The words came out of Spike's mouth, in his accent.

Just as I blinked, the controller got a look of confusion. "I seem to have allowed the dead one a bit too much leeway."

"_Allowed nothing you garden slug. I got a bit of salt for ya. Watch you shrivel like a pair of old man's bollocks." _

"Shut up!"

"_Oh, I'm quaking, bloody terrifying that."_

I watched the exchange between the two, and I knew that Spike had some kind of control over his own body. I was making small movements, crawling backwards on the carpeted floor away from him and towards the fireplace, which has a number of nice weapon-like items I could use on… Them?

"Don't even think about it, human." Didn't have to guess who said that.

Still reached behind me and grabbed the first head thing my hand came in contact with. I looked up to see I grabbed maybe the most useless thing in the stupid kit. The broom. "Oh, come on!"

I looked past the weapon best used for chasing a mouse to see controller Spike lunging towards me, however the Yeerk was not used to a vampire's superior speed and over shot, falling against the bricks of the fire place.

I crab walked around him before standing, and striking him in the back of the head with the not so deadly broom.

"_Oi! Ouch."_

"I'm sorry!" I said, but hit him again. Really, I felt bad about it, but Spike would be alright as long I avoided wooden objects and his heart.

"Stop it! Stupid human!" He's hand came so fast I didn't even see it. I heard the loud crack before I felt the strike, followed by a loud scream from either Spike or the controller, but most likely both.

Spike's head turned to the side, _"Bit…?"_ I could see the thought going through his head, and I knew this was going to hurt him just as much as it was me. The next blow was not as hard as it was when the Yeerk was in control but, even though I braced, it hurt! A lot.

The next one came before the sting of the last had faded so the shock was much less.

"Stop it! You are going to kill yourself!"

Slap, _"I'm already dead!"_ Slap.

After the last one Spike's eyes rolled in the back of his head and what looked like drool came out of the side of his mouth. With a thump he fell to the floor.

"Spike?" I said my hand on my inflamed cheek. "Spike!" I ran to him afraid he was dead. Well, again. But after a moment of shaking I realized he wasn't dust, thus he was still in his semi living state. It was the living state of the Yeerk that worried me.

Taking a deep breath I went to the backyard and grabbed the towing chains off my uncle's truck, hoping they were strong enough to hold on angry, possibly possessed, vampire.

Looping the rough chains around his wrists and ankles, but leaving enough length to help me drag the dead weight down the stairs. The chains cut into my palms as I struggled to get the tall vampire into the basement. I took a moment to try to make him comfortable noticing that one of his arms was now in a weird angle. Darn!

The door bell had me jumping out of my skin. "Who the hell?" I muttered. Then a about half way up the stairs I remembered my uncle, also known as the dead body in the living room.

I was at the top of the stairs when a bit of thought speech came through, {Dawn?} It was Tobias.

{Dawn? You missed our trip to the human place of commerce.} And Ax.

The mall. They were going to the mall, to pick up some Cinnabons, Ax's favorite food. I missed it with the whole episode… I ran to the door and opened it to let to birds of prey enter. "Come in guys, it's… There's no one here… Kind of. It's bad, really bad."

Ax was the first one to the door, his large body coming in carefully.

{You are bleeding.} He said his raptor eyes staring at my still bleeding hands.

"And Craig is dead." Waving a hand at the living room, sadly flinging blood on the grayish white walls.

{You killed our uncle?} Tobias exclaimed as he came in and I shut the door behind him.

"No, Spike did, because he was a controller and attempting to drag me off to get an ear full of alien slug." I walked around the room where my uncle laid, going to the staircase that leads down to the basement. "Now the Yeerk is in Spike, but it doesn't have complete control and we were able to knock Spike out. I don't know if the Yeerk is alive or fried and crispy in him and I don't know how to check." I wasn't really thinking clearly. Maybe it was blood loss.

{Dawn? You're hurt.} Tobias said.

"I know. Ax told me that already."

{No, I mean your face is swollen really badly. I think you might have a concussion.} He said.

"I have him chained in the basement. I don't think he can get out." I sat on the dirty hallway carpet, my head pounding.

{Dawn? Can you morph?} Tobias worried voice came through but it was like fighting a fog. {I am going to get Cassie. Can you stay here with her Ax?}

{I will.}

Why do I need Cassie? Was the last thought of mine before darkness set in.

~Scene Break~

When I awoke I saw a pair of bright green eyes. And then another pair of bright green eyes. "Axis?"

{Cassie is here.} He warned me, {And she has already treated you and inspected the two bodies. I do not think she believes Tobias about the one in the lower level being alive. Until it woke up. It is very disturbing listening to the host fight the Yeerk for control.}

I sat up but couldn't stay up as my head swam. I raised my hand to my cheek; it was beyond swollen and felt completely frozen. I looked back at Ax and he held up a bag of ice in his thin hands.

{You have seven breaks in you facial bones. Cassie said this may reduce the swelling and that if we didn't you may have been prevented from breathing.} He looked kind of embarrassed while he was talking.

"Thank you." I said and he gave me one of his eye smiles.

He nodded and stood on his four legs, {You should morph to heal now that you are conscious. I will tell Cassie and Tobias that you are on your way.}

I quickly morphed and demorphed, unfortunately that took a toll on my already tired worn out self.

But I knew that I would not get any sleep, not for a long time. I walked down to where I had dragged Spike, dreading having to not only deal with what had happened but the embarrassing fact that I passed out in front of Tobias and Ax.

I pulled on a clean pair of sweats and a tee and headed down the stairs to meet up with the others. I could see the spots of blood I had flung onto the dirty walls from my hands; they had already started to turn brown from oxidation. I also had another thought, how did I get down the hall into my room?

As if I didn't have enough to be embarrassed about.

I didn't get far before I heard the cursing and the arguments back and forth between Spike and the Yeerk. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, taking in the sight.

It looked like Cassie fixed Spike's shoulder and re-chained, in a much more pleasant manner than my attempt was, him. I looked at Cassie who was standing in the corner looking at me like I was Lucy. I had some 'splainin' to do…

"Creature of the night, witches, all that, real." I said simply.

"I didn't notice…" If Rachel had said that it would have come off with an attitude, with Cassie it may have been sincere. "I just, well, I get Tobias. But why does Ax know, why did you tell Ax and not the rest of us?"

"I have told everyone." I said holding up my hands. "No one believed me."

Cassie's dark eyes widened and she opened then closed her mouth like a fish. I practically hear the DAMN that was going though her mind.

I walked over to Spike and placed a hand on his arm, "Are you okay?"

The answer I got was his game face.

{He's been doing that, trying to frighten us. It lost its scare value about 40 minutes ago.} Toby said from his perch on the rotting railing.

"_Bloody making me hungry though!" _ Spike said.

"Then I will help you by eating each and every one of them once I get out." The Yeerk struggled against the chains.

"_Oh and how are you planning on doing that, huh? By playing shock the wee slug again? I'm all for that actually."_

"If primitive humans can put the simple chip in your head, do you not think we can get it out? I can…"

"_I've already said no! Bloody slave is worse than any damn chip."_

{That is very disturbing.} Ax mentioned again.

"Yeah…" I agreed. "But he didn't take the offer at least."

I smiled at him.

"Ohhh."

I looked over at Cassie, "Huh?"

"I got it now." She said looking at Ax.

Tobias' laugh sounded in my head and I blushed.

{You are turning red again, Dawn. Are you still hurt?} Ax asked and for once I was glad he didn't understand human facial expressions.

"No, no. I'm good." I waved my hand at him. "Vampires are really hard to kill. Like uber hard. What about cutting it out?"

"What?" I couldn't be sure if that was Spike or the Yeerk.

Ax's eyes narrowed, {That is very possible.} I swear that if he could do the evil laugh at this point, he would.

I looked at Cassie because I wasn't going to try it.

"What if the Yeerk hooks themselves onto the brain? I could remove his brain trying that." I hadn't thought about that. It was really a horrifying thought. Spike's brain sitting there in Cassie's hand for a moment before it turns to dust.

{A Yeerk is simply wrapped around the brain. They have no way to hold onto the organ as too much muscle mass would prevent them from stretching to appropriate size. Any hooks would harm the host upon entry.}

At this point Spike was desperately trying to break his bond. Yet he was also laughing like a loon. _"Go for it, bit. You have the bastard freaking."_

I looked at Cassie, "If we wait too long he will break the chains. Vampire strength will wear them down before three days are up."

Cassie looked at the three of us, "I will have to tell Jake. And Rachel, then Marco because it wouldn't be fair."

{And what do you think they are going to say? They will either think you are joking or gone crazy. Look at how they treat Dawn, what help will it be? I think keeping this between us, for now is best.} Tobias said.

"How can you say that? We are a team! They have a right to know!" She said outraged.

"And I will tell them. When they are ready, when they are more open to the idea of… All this." I said waving my hand at Spike.

"And I am?"

"You have been, Cassie. You are different, you feel things, things others don't. You feel it when an animal is in pain, when they need your help. Cassie… Do you want to tell them about that?" I knew it was a low blow, but I was worried that I was about to become the side show, that the others would treat me like an outsider. I was worried that Cassie and the others would find out about the Key.

Tobias couldn't be a controller, being a Hawk, and Ax would kill himself before being taken. But the others, they are in the middle of the Yeerk war and everyday there would be that fear of the unknown, of what would the Yeerks do with me as the Key.

Cassie looked at me as if trying to judge what I am hiding, but finally caved. "We need to get him to my barn. And after my parents go to sleep because I cannot even think would my parents would think if they came in while I was doing that."

I reached down and pulled Spike's keys out of his duster. "We have a car." I said and held up the keys.

{Now that is dangerous.} Tobias said, earning a glare from me and a giggle from a stressed looking Cassie.

~Scene Break~

It was late at night, and storming, when Cassie, Ax in human morph and I moved a drugged Spike out of his own, now even more dinged up car, into the barn. And I swear those mailboxes moved.

Then Cassie went back for the opossum in the trunk, which really did jump out at me.

It was strange, watching Cassie cut the head open of someone that I had known for years. It was even stranger seeing the Yeerk come out of the brain. The strangest thing was that I had no idea what the hell she was doing.

It was like watching House. On mute. It was just a bunch of medical stuff I didn't understand. But I helped; I did everything she asked me to do.

I used the sucker-upper thing for the blood. And handed her different things she needed, but I had no clue why I was doing these things. I did them because she asked and I love Spike. In an I love you, man, kind of way.

Within an hour Ax was holding a jar of Yeerk and Spike's hairline was already starting to scab.

Cassie sat down and sighed as Spike started to move again. "See there was no reason to worry. Over drugging a vampire is a no harm thing. Unless you are using holy water."

"I knew that in my mind, but I still gave him enough to bring down seven elephants. " She was only sitting down for a moment before she stood up and started cleaning. I understood why she did, her parents would come in the next morning and think, why is there blood everywhere?

I took Cassie's hands, "Thank you."

"I don't like it, Dawn, I don't like lying to Rachel, to Jake…And Marco." I knew Marco was an afterthought. "But I will. Only because the idea of a mental institution doesn't sound pleasant."

"Well, it's nice to know that at least one of your little group has a head on her shoulders, bit." Spike said jumping off the metal table Cassie had used to give him brain surgery. "'Cus other than her I see a birdy and something that looks like a centaur shagged a Smurf."

Cassie, Toby and I all shot a look at Ax. Creepy.

"But you're right. There is nothing I can do here, I will only cause more harm and I aint one to stay out of the way. The things the buggy said will haunt me and I was William the Fu-reaking Bloody." It was hard for Spike to say this, it was hard for him to step aside when his nibblet was in danger, but both of us knew it had to be done.

I handed him his car keys and gave him a very teary eyed hug.

"Ah, bit, you know I can't stay here. I will help, kay? I will keep all the other big bads on the other coast. As far away from your war as I can, with the help of our new slayer-" Spike stopped. "I forgot to tell you. The slayer? The new one? It aint your sister's replacement, its Faith's. They murdered her in prison, said they needed an active slayer, stupid prats."

I looked at Spike. I shouldn't be sad about Faith, after all she tried to kill Buffy, but something was nagging at me, like she had more to give, like she was meant to do more in her life.

"I'm sorry."

"Anyways, this new slayer, a little redhead that doesn't know her hands from her feet, is going to need a lot of help and just don't think that the watcher is up to it alone." He stuck his hands in his pockets as he looked at me, "And I have eyes and ears, even with a bug in my head, he's a weird one, bit. But not really unexpected." He gave a grin and little wave before he walked off leaving me a flaming red color. Also knowing that he wasn't wrong; demons, robots, vampires, former demons, human/goddess body sharing, lesbians and juiced soldiers leaves aliens for me. I guess I don't mind.

~Scene Break~

"So why are we here?" Marco complained.

"To see who morphs our new morph," Rachel said. "Ax is in, regardless. We need his expertise in aliens. One of us has to go in with him."

"What's the morph?" I asked suspiciously.

"Spider,"" Cassie said. We were at Cassie's barn. It was Saturday morning. This was the kind of insanity they cooked up when I wasn't there.

"Excuse me? I must have something wrong with my ears." Marco tapped the side of his head with his palm. "Because, see, I thought I heard you say the word 'spider.' And I remember saying 'no insects.'"

Cassie held her hand out to Marco. And in that hand was a spider. "It's not an insect. Arachnids have eight legs and two body segments. Insects have six legs and three segments."

"Since I knew we were doing this today, I decided to do some reading. This is a wolf spider. It has pretty good eyesight. In fact, it has eight eyes." Cassie said this like having eight eyes was a good thing. Like eight eyes was something everyone should want.

"Go away, Cassie. Go away. Go away; go away, I am going to morph a spider! You can morph a spider. I don't like spiders."

Jake gave Marco a look. "Marco, Cassie always gets stuck doing the new morphs. Besides, this is more your mission than anyone else's."

"What? Why?" He demanded angrily. "Why is this my mission more than yours or Rachel's?"

Jake shrugged. "Erek is your friend."

"My friend? When did I ever say he was my friend? He's not my friend. I barely know the guy!"

"Marco, you're such a wuss," Rachel said.

"Hey, you want to be a spider?"

Rachel shuddered slightly. "Sure." She was lying. I just knew it. "If I draw a short straw, I'd love to go spider."

Then she grinned. She couldn't keep a straight face.

"I'll do it!" I blurted suddenly. "I don't mind. You know? Spiderman was cool."

Jake gave me a nod "Okay, Dawn is in." Then he turned to Marco, "Look, you don't have to do this. It's just that we're going to be infiltrating a meeting of The Sharing. The Yeerks are totally on alert for animal morphs. We have to fit into the environment of the lake. Whatever morphs we use have to belong there. We can't be showing up there as lions and tigers and bears."

"Oh, my," Cassie interjected.

"We need good vision, but not standard mammal-type eyes. And we can't all go in the same way. I want two people to hang back as a rescue squad in case we get into a mess. Ax has to go because we need him to see if he can figure out what Erek is. Ax is going in as a spider, Dawn, as always, is going with him but it wouldn't be right to leave them out there alone."

Oh, my god! He didn't! He was calling me useless. I crossed my arms and glared.

"Has anyone told Ax about this?" Marco asked.

"He was here earlier. While you were sleeping in late. He said he thought a spider's body was much more sensible than a human's body," Cassie said. "His exact words were, 'Ah, good. With eight legs it won't fall over like a human.'"

"Be glad we waited for you at all," Rachel growled. "Just draw a straw."

Jake had six pieces of hay in his fist. He opened his hand and handed me a short straw since I asked to be in. There was no way to tell which of the others was the shortest one.

"Hah. I know how to beat this," Marco said. "It's mathematical. If I choose first, my odds are just one in five. The next person to choose has odds of one in four, then one in three, and so on. So the safest thing to do is choose first."

He took a deep breath, reached out, and yanked up a straw. "Really, it made perfect sense mathematically,"

He looked like he was going to cry.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You know, if you're going to be a big baby, I'll do it."

"Don't condescend to me, oh mighty Xena. Just because I'm not a reckless idiot doesn't mean I'm a wuss. I've never chickened out on a morph yet. And if Ax is in, so am I. You can hang around and be the backup, Rachel. I'm going where the action is." Marco snapped.

To which Rachel replied with a very calm, "Okay."

Cassie held out the spider. "It's not bad," she said. "I morphed the spider yesterday, just to see what it was like. Charlotte's Web was one of my favorite books."

"It would be," Marco muttered.

"I like Harry Potter. I could be a spider animagus… only a ton of other animals too." I reached out a finger to touch the spider.

The spider became very still as I acquired it. Thanks to the Andalite technology that had transformed me, the spider DNA entered my system.

~Scene Break~

The lake is in the mountains. It's a long way from where any of us live. And if we'd had to walk it would have taken several days. Fortunately, we didn't have to walk.

We have our own little airline. TWA: Travel With Animorphs.

It was a beautiful day. Just a few puffy clouds in a blue sky. Bright sun. A canopy of trees spread out beneath us as we flew toward the mountains. With my condor wings spread wide and the sun toasting the ground so it sent up elevators of warm air, it was as perfect as life can get. If you overlooked the fact that we were heading toward utter, unspeakable grossness and certain destruction.

{Time to split up} Toby said. {The lake is just over that next ridge.}

We had not been flying close together because that would have looked massively suspicious. Two ospreys, a harrier, a bald eagle, a peregrine, a condor, and a red-tailed hawk, all flying together? Not in the natural world. But we were all within a mile of each other, and all heading in the same direction.

Toby went into a lazy upward spiral, hanging back. Rachel and Cassie split off, too. The Yeerks would have heavy security around the meeting of The Sharing. The Yeerks know all about morphing. They would be on alert.

Ax, in a harrier morph, Jake, in his peregrine falcon morph, Marco, in osprey and I flew on toward the lake, though still far apart.

{You know, one of your kind tried to kill me the other day} Marco said to Jake.

{Tobias told me} Jake said. {Gotta watch out. Falcons rule.}

{Yeah, well I noticed he didn't try it a second time.}

{Don't diss falcons} Jake said.

{One-on-one in a fair fight, an osprey would kick your butt.}

{As if.} Jake sneered.

{Excuse me} Ax interrupted. {Is there some special meaning to this conversation that I don't understand?}

{They are both mad because they both a tiny compared to my endangered bird butt.} I put in.

{NOT!} Marco said. {The meaning is that Jake and I are scared, so we're babbling in a desperate effort not to think about it. Bald-headed, ugly, rotten meat eating, please. }

{Ah. I am frightened, too. I don't really like morphing tiny animals. I keep thinking about all the rest of my mass.}

{Your what?} I asked he's phrase catching my complete attention. Because it was interesting. Really!

{My mass. When you morph something smaller than yourself, your body mass must go somewhere. So it goes into Zero-space. Zero-space is the space that ships travel through when they are going faster than light. It's not very likely to happen, but sometimes a ship traveling in Z-space will intersect with a temporarily parked mass.}

It looked like Marco may have drop by a few feet as his bird body just stopped moving, before he started flapping again.

{Wait a minute. Are you telling me that when we get small, all the leftover . . . stuff ... all the extra flesh and guts and bones go bulging into Zero-space like some big balloon of human tissue?}

{Of course. Where did you think all the mass went?}

{Oz?} I answered.

{I really didn't think about it.} Marco said {So right now there's a big bag of Jake floating in Zero space? And it's possible some spaceship will zoom along and hit it and splatter it all over?}

{No, no, of course not} Ax said. {Of course no ship would actually hit a floating mass} Ax said, talking to the boys like they were nitwits. {The ship's shielding systems would disintegrate the mass. That's what troubles me about doing small morphs. It very seldom happens. The odds are millions to one. But it could happen.}

{Hey, Ax?} Jake said. {You know how we wanted you to be honest with us? To tell us everything you know?}

{Yes, Prince Jake.}

{Small change. In the future, don't tell us things that will scare us silly just as we're going into possible battle.}

{You can still tell me.} I told him.

{I know, Dawn. You are a warrior, more than the others.} He told me, in private thought-speech.

{A big wad of Marco in Zero-space} Marco muttered. {Like hanging your butt out of a car window, waiting for a truck to come along and sideswipe it off.}

Just at that moment, I topped the crest of the ridge. Tall pines nearly scraped my belly. And there, spread out before me, sparkling in the sun, was a large lake nestled between the surrounding hills and mountains.

{Okay, boys and er, Dawn} Jake said. {This is where I peel off. Just one final word. I know spiders eat bugs, so do not, I repeat, do not, eat any flies. I'll have enough to worry about in fly morph.}

{Remind me} Marco said. {Why are we doing this instead of staying home and sleeping in late?}

{We're saving the world} Jake said.

{Oh, yeah. Great. My mass is hanging out in the Zero-space highway and I'm about to become Spiderman. I knew there had to be a pretty good reason.} Marco went on to say. He really doesn't ever shut up.

There were probably two hundred people around the lake below us - boys, girls, older people. Some were swimming. Some were water-skiing. Some were grilling burgers and hot dogs over charcoal fires. A lot were just milling around and talking and laughing.

You'd swear it was some kind of big community picnic. From the air they all looked so normal. And probably most of the people below us were normal. But a lot of them were Controllers.

And one of them was Erek, who was certainly not normal.

We stayed well back from the lakeshore and dropped down into the trees. We came to rest on the ground, inside a cluster of tall bushes

{Shall we demorph?} Ax asked.

{Not yet. Tobias said he would swing back over, once we were on the ground.} Marco said.

So we waited there, looking a bit weird, three birds of prey just hanging out inside a bunch of bushes at the edge of the forest. I could hear the whine of power boats out on the water, and closer, little snatches of human laughter.

{Okay, guys.} Toby's thought-speak voice suddenly spoke in my head. {Looks clear to me. You've got a guy and a girl maybe a hundred yards off. But I think they're making out, so they should be busy for a while.}

I quickly began to demorph. One of the limitations on morphing is that you can't just morph straight from one form to another. You always have to return to your own body in between. In Ax's case this meant returning to his Andalite form. That had to make him nervous. There were dozens of Controllers just a few hundred feet away. Yeerks might overlook a couple of kids sneaking around. They wouldn't overlook an Andalite. {What is making out?} Ax asked me about half way human.

{Uh, kissing.} I said.

{Ah, touching mouths. I understand.} Then to Marco, since we were back in our normal bodies, {Are you ready to morph?}

"I'll never be ready to morph a spider," Marco said. He's teeth were chattering, and it wasn't cold.

{I have to morph} Ax said. {I can't stay here in Andalite form.}

I rolled my eyes at Marco like, duh.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I know. Okay. Okay, I'm going to do this. But I'm going to keep my eyes closed."

"It can't be any worse than morphing a fly, right? Or an ant?" Marco asked already behind Ax and I with the morph.

I felt myself starting to shrink. I could feel myself getting smaller. I could feel very strange things happening inside me: sudden feelings of emptiness where organs were simply disappearing. And there was a distracting squishy sound that came up my spine and through my skull. The sound of bones turning to marrow, and of marrow sort of oozing away.

I wouldn't be needing any bones, I guess.

POP! POP! POP!

Eyes were popping open in my forehead. Eyes were erupting out of my head like zits. I was staring at Ax as he underwent a change very similar to my own.

I was watching him with vision that was half human and half the shattered, brokenmirror vision of the spider's compound eyes. Something horrifying was growing from the place on Ax's face where a mouth should have been. Something huge and bulging and foul. Two monstrous, swollen things like . . . like nothing I'd ever seen before. They were jaws, but huge and outsized. From the end of each one, a wicked, curved fang grew. Sometimes you really, really need eyelids. There are definitely some things you don't want to have to see.

I knew the same thing was happening to me. My bulging jaw parts grew till they entered my own distorted field of vision.

Fortunately, I didn't have to worry too long about the jaws. See, I became distracted when legs suddenly exploded from my chest.

SPROOOT!

Four new legs, two on each side, just shot out of me, like I was a tube of toothpaste someone had stomped. They sprouted all Gumby-unformed, and then began to form joints. Way too many joints. My human legs and arms were changing to match these first spider legs. I fell forward, no longer able to stand erect. It wasn't much of a fall. I was already pretty small. The pine needles beneath me already seemed to be as big around as a human finger.

Not that I had any fingers left to compare with.

All the while, new eyes kept opening suddenly where eyes absolutely did not belong. Some were compound eyes. Some weren't.

Then, as if the extra legs, and the mix "n" match eyes, and the huge jaw-and-fang combo weren't enough, some new leglike things came sprouting out of my ... well, out of where my neck used to be. They were like extra legs, only they weren't. I had no idea what they were. But they moved. Much later, I found out they're called pedipalps. A sort of cross between a mouth part and a leg.

My head was swelling, compared to the rest of my body. It was gigantic ... in a small way.

My entire body was now divided into two big chunks: a sort of bulging head and an even bulgier body. I was almost entirely spider now. The pine needles that had seemed as big as fingers were now as big as two-by-fours.

As the last touch, strangely soft hairs began to grow from everywhere on my body. It was the hair that seemed to trigger the awakening of the spider brain.

The wolf spider has good eyes for a spider. But it's all the thousands of tiny hairs that really get the spider brain's attention. They sense every subtle clue in the wind. Every minor movement in every direction.

And all of a sudden it felt like the whole world was moving: leaves, pine needles, the dirt beneath my claw-tipped eight legs, bugs in the dirt, moles under the ground, birds in the air. All of it seemed to be hardwired into the hairs that covered my spider body.

With that entire sensory overload, the spider brain woke up. I had been afraid it would be like the brain of an ant: a mindless machine. Or that it would be the terrified, fearful, panicstricken mind of a prey animal.

But oh, no. Definitely no.

They didn't call it a wolf spider for nothing.

This guy was tiny, no more than two inches from the end of one outstretched leg to the end of the farthest back leg. A toddler could easily crush him underfoot.

But I guess it isn't size alone that makes a predator, because as soon as I felt the edge of that spider brain I knew this boy was trouble.

The wolf spider was a killer.

Motion! Something moved, left to right across my field of vision, and Marco was after it like a dog after a rabbit. The world was weird to my eight spider eyes. I saw colors no human ever saw. It was like when you mess with the color and tint knobs on the TV. Things that should have been brown were blue, and green was red, or whatever. From some angles the pictures were almost clear, but a second later everything would shatter into bits and I'd be watching a million tiny monitors at once. I never could make logical sense out of it. But mostly what I saw was movement. I was very, very interested in movement.

{Marco. What are you doing?} I asked

{Nothing. I was just letting the spider be a spider.} He crawled off a beetle he just attacked, {I guess its instincts kind of carried me away.}

{Marco, I morphed the identical spider} Ax said.

{Ax, it was just a cockroach .Who cares? Come on, we have a job to do.}

{Sometimes humans worry me} Ax said.

{You have no idea.} I said.

{I think it's this way} Ax said. He took the lead and I saw him moving in front of me, a spider scurrying effortlessly on his eight legs.

I fell in behind him.

Suddenly, from the sky . . . something fell toward me! It landed right between Ax and me. A grasshopper, three, four times our size. It looked like an elephant.

Then . . . thwap! It fired its huge hind legs and shot into the air. It disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

We raced on through the forest, covering the two hundred feet between us and the edge of the party. I sensed the nearness of humans. I "heard" vibrations that might have been speech, but the voices were too garbled to make any sense out of.

{Hey, Marco, Ax, you guys around? Dawn?} It was Jake's thought-speak voice.

{Yes, Prince Jake,} Ax answered. {We are here.}

{We're not pretty, but we're here.} Marco added.

{Cool. I'm not exactly handsome myself. I'm in fly morph. Haven't found our boy Erek yet, though.}

Something massive and slow appeared in the air above me. I scampered sideways. It landed slowly with a loud WHOOOMPHHH!

A human foot. A shoe. Nike.

{You know, I'd been worrying someone might step on me} I said. {But humans are so slow.}

{Be careful anyway} Jake said. {Let me know if you find Erek.}

{I don't know how I'm supposed to recognize him} Marco complained. {These spider eyes aren't good at seeing distances. And human heads seem to be way up in the clouds, from where I'm crawling down here.}

But Ax and I went on, skittering swiftly through a forest of huge, slow-moving legs and feet. And Marco caught up easy enough.

Then, right in front of me, I saw it. It looked like a bare human foot. Except that I could see through the skin. Through the toenails. With my eight strange, distorted spider eyes I could see right through the electronic haze of the hologram.

I could see what was beneath the hologram. I saw what looked like interlocking plates of steel and ivory. The "foot" had no toes.

In fact, it wasn't shaped like a human foot. More like a paw.

It was not human. And everything in my tingling, buzzing, hyper, spider's senses told me it was not alive.

{Axis?} I asked.

{Yes, I see it.}

{What is it?} Marco said

{I do not know.}

{It looks like a machine, almost. Like it's made out of metal.} Marco pointed out.

{Yes} Ax said. {I think your friend Erek may be an android.}

{Android?}

{Yes. A robot. A machine made to seem like a life-form} Ax said, as though it was just the most common idea in the world. I realized that I had told him about the Buffy-Bot. Thus he must have been projecting a common thought to Marco.

{This is like something you know about, Ax?} Marco asked, looking up at the thing called Erek.

{This is not a type of android I know.} Ax said. {It is not Andalite. I don't think it is Yeerk. I don't know who ... or what ... it is.}

My spider eyes could see the foot and most of the way up the leg. It was like looking at a double-exposure photograph. There was the outward appearance of a human leg and, way up high, shorts. But beneath all that there was this machine made of what seemed like steel and ivory.

It was thousands of interlocked plates, almost like the chain mail armor knights used to wear. Each of the individual links was roughly triangular in shape. The "ivory" segments were a little larger than the segments that looked like steel.

The robot . . . android . . . whatever it was, was smaller than the human Erek. The leg I was looking at was oddly constructed. More like a stretched-out dog leg than a human leg. The robot leg, along with its holographic projection of a human foot, lifted off, as Erek went on his way.

{Jake?} I called.

{Yeah? Hey, I think I see our guy. There's this person . . . it's hard with fly senses, but I see this person who is kind of shimmering all over, and it's like there's something hiding underneath all the shimmering light.}

{Yep. That's him} Marco confirmed.

{Wait a minute! There's another one!}

{What?}

{Another one of them,} Jake answered. {I just buzzed right past him. There are two of these things.}

{Okay, nothings have gotten com-} I started to say. FWAP! FWAP! FWAP! FWAP!

A hurricane of wind! The ground in front of me exploded as two big taloned feet landed in the dirt.

A shadow over my head! I ran.

Two big black triangles came down from the sky above me. They dug in, just in front of me! Just behind me!

Like a power shovel, the two triangles closed together. I was inside. I was in darkness. Total darkness. Some big, muscular thing was crushing me, squeezing me. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. I was being squeezed and pummeled.

And then I realized . . . I was being swallowed.

{AAAAAHHHHH!} I yelled.

There are two kinds of thought-speak. Private, which is like whispering right in one person's ear, and public, which is like yelling.

I was yelling.

Every person near that lake heard me. Normal humans, who probably wondered, "What was that?" And Controllers, who knew it was thought-speak.

But I didn't care. I was being swallowed.

{Dawn!} Jake yelled. {What's happening?}

{Dawn! Everyone can hear you!} Ax warned, but he also sounded worried. Now was not a time to think about that. I tried to control my panic. I was being swallowed, but I wasn't dead yet.

{Something . . . something just grabbed me!} I said, aiming my thought-speak at Jake, Marco and Ax only.

{I think it was a bird} Ax said. {I saw it. Very big and black. It flew off.}

My spider legs were crushed against my side. Two of them were broken. The hairs all over my body were blind. My eyes were blind. There wasn't enough air even for my spider body to live on. I was being forced down the gullet of a bird, flying through the air, and seconds away from suffocating.

{Toby?} I cried desperately. {Can you hear me?}

{Dawnie? What's happening?} Tobias answered. His reply came from far off, but very quickly.

{A bird ate me. Black bird. We're flying. Can you see . . . Help!}

{Dawnie, there are a dozen big crows flying. I can't tell which one.}

I felt my mind beginning to fade. The spider was dying. What would happen if the spider died? I wondered, as my attention drifted away.

That thought did it. I was outta there. Morph out!

I tried to form a mental picture of my own real self. A mental picture of a human named

Dawn. But it was all confused. My mind was dying, and as it sank it called up a thousand images. Images of wolves and giant ants and green balls of energy. Images of all the animals I had been, all the minds I had lived in. Things I once was.

I couldn't grab that human image and hold onto it. But then, floating up in my disintegrating consciousness, came the image of my mother.

I guess that's not a surprise. They say dying soldiers on the battlefield often call out for their mothers with their dying breaths. And I guess that's what I was doing, too.

She was smiling at me. She was much taller than me, but she bent down to pick me up. I flew, up in the air, up to her face. She kissed me.

"You are going to grow up to be so cute," she said. "My little pumpkin-belly."

Dawn. The human girl. I saw myself clearly then, like I was looking through her eyes at the little toddler I never was. Not the Animorph Dawn, not a green ball of energy but the little kid Dawn.

Suddenly . . . The pressure was growing. Growing. I was squeezed from all sides. I felt muscle tensing to restrain me, but then, the muscle weakened and quivered.

A ripping, tearing sound!

Light! Light!

I was demorphing. Demorphing and growing. I had burst through the throat of the crow! And now, I was falling!

{Dawn!} Tobias yelled.

Muddy, distorted vision showed me the crow falling alongside me.

I was falling. Falling through the air, a vile mix of crippled spider and emerging human. I was the size of a baseball, I guess, and getting bigger. I hate to even think of what I looked like. I know I wasn't pretty.

WHAMMMMM!

I hit the ground. I bounced. I hit the ground again. I lay there, not knowing where I was, or what I was. But I knew one thing for sure. I was going to demorph. I was getting OUT OF THAT MORPH!

If I'd had a mouth, I would have started screaming and never stopped. But my mouth reappeared late. Four of my spider legs withered and disappeared. My remaining legs became human arms and legs. My tiny claws became toes. My fangs and jaws became teeth and lips. My eight spider eyes shut down one after another, leaving only two. And slowly, those two eyes became fully human.

I looked up through human eyes at a blue sky. At the high branches of trees looming above me. And then, I looked up into the face of Marco's former schoolmate, Erek.

Erek the android.

"The Key?" Erek said. "You're human?"

"My name is Dawn!" The Key thing again. Anyway, to my human eyes Erek looked completely, one hundred percent human. I knew it wasn't true, but even so, it was almost impossible not to believe the holographic projection that surrounded the android.

Could I remorph into something powerful enough to ... to make sure he wouldn't be a problem? Probably not. There were Controllers all around the area. All he had to do was yell for help.

Just then, a girl came running up. She looked down at me, then at Erek.

"Who is this?" The girl asked.

"Her name is Marco," Erek said calmly. "You know the 'Andalite bandits' Chapman is always talking about? The ones who use Andalite morphing technology to carry on a guerrilla war?"

"Of course," She said.

Erek pointed down at me. "I think the Key is one of them."

There it was: the end. The end of our existence as Animorphs. We'd always known that if the Yeerks ever discovered our true identities, or even that we were humans, they would wipe us out within a matter of days.

I felt sick. Sick with fear for myself, and for the others. I'd blown it. I'd given away our great secret. That the Key was theirs, that I was.

Erek jerked his head toward the girl. "This is my friend Jenny."

I was not pleased to meet her. I heard the sound of people rushing through bushes.

'"Nothing over here," Erek said loudly. "Jenny hurt her ankle. I'll help her. Keep searching. I think I heard something over there."

Erek must have noticed the extremely shocked and puzzled expression on my face.

He grinned. "'There are more things in heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio.'"

"Shakespeare?" I said, amazed.

"Yes. Hamlet. I saw the very first performance."

"Anya did too."

Erek nodded. "Do you know where I live?"

I nodded, with my head still down in the dirt.

"Morph into something small enough to escape from here," Erek suggested. "Come to see me at my house, you and your friends. We have a lot to talk about."

For some stupid reason I said, "You're not human. We know you're an android."

"And you're not an Andalite bandit," Erek said then, "And you're not human either."

"I am now." I said back, "How do I know I can trust you?"

Erek shrugged. "I could turn you in, right now. I'd be Visser Three's new best friend. Even the Visser knows how to reward those who carry out his orders well."

"Maybe you want to catch all of us at once," I said. Don't ask me why I was arguing with him. Maybe it was the humiliating position I was in. Maybe I felt like I had to act tough since I was on my back in the dirt, wearing severely unattractive clothing.

Erek squatted down. "Dawn, if I gave you to Visser Three, he would get the names of all your friends from you. I know you're a brave person. You'd have to be, to do all you and your friends have done. But you are not brave enough to survive the Visser's torture. You would tell. And then you would be forced back into your original form. Do you know what that is? Do your friends?"

I took a couple of seconds to think about that. He was right, of course.

"We'll be there," I said. "I guess we don't have a choice. You have us by the ... you have us cold."

Erek shook his head. "It's not like that. It will be a meeting of allies, Dawn. You see, we, too, fight the Yeerks."

~Scene Break~

We had decided to meet with Erek at his house. We had not decided to trust him completely.

Jake, Cassie, Ax, Marco, and I were going to the meeting.

Rachel and Tobias stayed outside as backup. Rachel was all primed to use her grizzly bear morph if we called for help.

'"I'll be within range of Ax's thought-speak," She said for the tenth time. "I can morph my bear in a minute and go through that door about ten seconds later."

"If you do that, try not to stomp over me in the process, okay?" I said. I glanced up and saw Toby swooping down to settle in the tree in Erek's yard.

I could joke about it, but the truth was, it did feel reassuring to know Rachel and Toby were ready to be the cavalry.

We went up to the front door of the very ordinary-looking house. Marco sent Jake a look that said, 'Man, I hope we're right about this.' But Jake was busy exchanging solemn glances with Cassie. And I was looking pass Marco at Ax.

"So? Someone knock on the door," Marco said.

I kept looking at Ax. He was in his human morph. His human morph is made up of DNA gathered at the same time from all of us except Tobias and me. There's some of Jake and Rachel and Cassie and Marci in Ax's human shape. In the end result he's male, but almost as pretty as a girl. Yeah, really, really pretty. Which I notice, a lot.

"Knock? Knock on the door? Why? Knockon. Knock-kuh." Andalites don't have mouths, and Ax can't get over how fun it is to make actual sounds. Plus, you don't even want the boy in the same room with certain foods.

Jake knocked. The door opened. I was surprised. It wasn't Erek. It was his father, Mr. King. He nodded. "Come in."

We stepped inside. I felt completely dorky. It was like we were coming over to ask if Erek could come out and play. I mean, the house looked so normal inside. Normal furniture and normal lights and normal dishes displayed in a hutch. A normal TV on "mute," showing pictures from CNN.

There were two dogs, a Labrador mix and a fat little terrier. The Lab just lolled over on its back.

The terrier came running over to sniff our shoes.

"Is Erek here?" I asked.

Mr. King nodded. "Yes. Would you like a soda or anything?"

"No thanks, Mr. King," Cassie said. She bent over to scratch behind the terrier's ears. While I rubbed the lab's belly.

"You like dogs?" Mr. King asked.

"Cassie likes any animal," Marco answered. "She even likes skunks."

"But dogs do you like dogs?"

Cassie smiled. "If reincarnation were real, I'd want to come back as a dog."

"I love them." Of course there was the fact they could see me as I really was, the Key.

Mr. King smiled, nodding as if we had just said something profound. "Would you all come with me?"

He turned and led the way toward the kitchen. Once again, the total normalcy of it seemed jarring. There were little Post-It notes on the refrigerator saying things like "dozen eggs, bell peppers." Someone had left a box of Wheaties out on the counter.

Mr. King opened a door. It led down to the basement. We followed him down the narrow wooden steps.

At this point I started to wonder. I noticed that Ax was morphing slowly out of his human shape, returning to Andalite form a little at a time.

Good Ax. He sensed danger and he wanted his tail available.

I wanted his tail available, too.

Mr. King paused when we all got down to the basement. He watched with absolutely no surprise as Ax finished transforming. He waited politely for Ax to be done.

Then, to my utter amazement, I felt a slight dropping sensation. It took a few seconds to realize what was happening. The basement was dropping like an elevator. When I looked up I couldn't see a roof overhead, just darkness.

"Whoa," Cassie commented.

"Don't be afraid," Mr. King said.

It didn't last long. We may have dropped four or five floors. At least that's what it felt like to me. Then, with a slight lurch, the basement elevator stopped.

"Is this the floor for men's clothing?" I asked.

I was almost not surprised when one entire wall of the basement, hung with tools and garden hose and a rake and hoe, simply disappeared. Where the wall had been was now a hallway lit with a golden light. "My basement won't do this," I muttered to Ax.

{I know.} He said.

"This way," Mr. King said.

We followed him. It was way too late to start worrying now. The hallway wasn't long, just fifty feet or so. It reached a dead end, a blank wall. But then that wall, too, disappeared.

"Yah!"

"No way!"

{Strange.}

"This is just a hologram, right?" I said. But somehow, I knew it wasn't. It was real. Unbelievable, yet real.

What was beyond the hallway was a vast, vast chamber, lit in glowing gold light, soft and buttery warm.

I stepped out of the hallway onto springy grass. And over my head, maybe a hundred feet up, there was a glowing orb, like a sun. That's where the yellow light came from. Stretched out before us, for more than the length of a football field, was a sort of park. Trees, grass, streams, flowers, butterflies flying around jerkily, bees buzzing from flower to flower, squirrels racing up and down the trees. Walking here and there were androids.

Androids in their natural form, machines made of steel and something white. The androids had mouths that were almost like muzzles, clumsy-looking legs, and stubby fingers.

But it wasn't the presence of half-dozen or so androids that was really shocking. What was really shocking was that there were hundreds, maybe even a thousand dogs. Normal, everyday Earth dogs, every breed and half-breed you could imagine, running in packs, yipping, yapping, bowwowing, howling, growling, ruff-ruffing dogs. They were chasing squirrels, smelling each other, and generally having a great ole dog time.

Jake, Cassie, Marco, and I stood there with our jaws hanging open like complete idiots. If Ax had possessed a mouth, his would have been hanging open, too.

It was doggie heaven. Dogs and robots in a huge, underground park. One of the robots came trotting toward us. As it got near, a hologram shimmered around it.

A second later, it was Erek.

"Welcome," he said. "I guess you're probably a little surprised."

"We are the Chee," Erek said.

Mr. King had left, and Erek had brought us to a place beneath a large tree. A little stream trickled by, just a few feet away. A wall of silence had come down, as if someone had turned down the sound of all the barking dogs. I could still hear them, but it was as if the sound were far away now.

{You are androids} Ax commented.

"Yes."

{You show a very high level of technological sophistication} Ax said.

Erek smiled with what looked exactly like human lips. "We are just the creation. It is our creators who were the great builders."

"Why did you bring us down here?" Jake asked. "Why show us all this?"

"We want you to trust us," Erek said then he looked at me. "We know that you're suspicious. You have to be. I'm sure you've left some of your people outside, just in case we betray you. I wanted us to be equal. I wanted you to know our secrets, since we know yours."

"We saw you at the concert," Marco started to say.

He looked surprised, then nodded. "Ah, yes. You were the two dogs, weren't you? I sensed something odd about you. Tell me: What's it like to actually be a dog?"

"It's truly cool," Jake said. "You knew we were the two dogs?"

Erek shook his head. "We didn't know, but I felt something strange. We've known there were morph-capable forces on Earth. There is very little that the Yeerks know that we don't also know."

"You were handing out flyers for The Sharing. You were at a meeting of The Sharing," Marco accused.

"True. But maybe I should tell you our story. Then you'll understand who we are. And why we are your allies. And also why we ... or at least some of us ... would like your help."

"That would be nice," Cassie said.

You have to say one thing for Erek: The boy knew how to tell a story. Suddenly, everything around us dissolved. In its place there grew a vast, three-dimensional picture. It looked as real as Erek. We were no longer on Earth. There were two suns in the sky, one small and almost red, and the other four times as big as Earth's sun and a deeper gold. The trees and flowers and grasses around us were definitely not anything that had ever grown on Earth. The trunks of the trees were green and smooth. But instead of leaves, the branches just kept splitting into ever smaller branches and twigs that grew gradually from green to silver to a brilliant shade of pink. These pink twigs were all intertwined, so that from a distance the trees looked like huge balls of pink steel wool. The trees were no larger than Earth trees, it seemed to me, but what was huge were the mushrooms. At least, they looked kind of like mushrooms. They were half as large as the trees themselves. Messy nests of some leathery, leaping, three-legged animal seemed to be perched on each of the mushrooms. There were other animals around, each stranger than the last. But the main animal we saw was a two-legged creature that stood maybe four feet tall. It had long, floppy ears and a muzzle. It looked weirdly like a dog that could walk on its hind legs.

It looked, in fact, a little like Erek when he dropped the hologram and showed his true self.

"Our creators," Erek said. "They were known as Pemalites. A hundred thousand years before the Andalites learned to make fire, the Pemalites were capable of faster-than-light travel."

I noticed Ax's tail twitch a little at that.

"And of course, humans were just hairy apes when the Pemalites first visited Earth. The Pemalites were not interested in conquest, or in interfering in the lives of other planets. They enjoyed life." Erek smiled. "They loved to play. They loved games and jokes and laughter. And they had been a fully evolved race for so long that all the harsher instincts were gone from them. They had no evil in their hearts. They had no evil in their souls."

I found this hard to believe. But as I watched the hologram around me, it was possible to believe that on this weird planet the Pemalites had found some deep inner peace. There was just a sense of deep calm about the place. Like one of those Zen gardens or something. It just felt peaceful. Peaceful, but not dead or tired or boring. In fact, everywhere I looked, I saw Pemalites jumping around, chasing, playing, and making an odd CHUK CHUK CHUK that must have been laughter.

The scene around me changed, like a movie doing a flash-forward. Now, mingled in with the Pemalites, were androids like Erek. The androids looked vaguely like their canine creators.

"We were toys, originally," Erek said. "The Pemalites made us to play with. They called us the Chee. It's a word that means "friend." They also had work for us to do, but they created us mostly to be their companions. An artificial race, yes, but not a race of mechanical slaves."

They weren't like the Buffy-bot.

Erek looked at us and I swear there were tears in his holographic eyes. "We were their friends and equals and companions. They taught us to laugh and play. They loved it when they were able to create androids who could tell a joke. There was a celebration that lasted a year."

Then . . . ZZZZZZZAAAAAAAARRRRPPPP! I jerked back. A monstrous beam of light sliced the ground open right in front of us, like some insane plow tearing up the earth. It incinerated the pink Brillo pad trees and the huge mushrooms.

"Then the Howlers came," Erek explained. "They suddenly popped out of Zerospace, thousands of powerful ships. They had come from clear outside this galaxy. The Pemalites had no idea who they were. And they never found out what the Howlers wanted. The Howlers made no demands. They just attacked. Maybe that's all they wanted: to destroy."

What Erek showed us next was like one of those horrifying films from World War II. Pemalites hunted from the air. Pemalite space stations blown apart. Pemalite ships sliced open, and helpless Pemalites left to drift through cold, dead space. The scenes of massacre just went on and on.

I noticed Cassie was crying. I think I was crying, too. It was too horrible.

"Almost the entire race of Pemalites was wiped out," Erek said. "A few hundred Chee and a few hundred Pemalites left the planet, escaping in a single ship just seconds ahead of a new wave of Howler escaped into Zero-space. We had no plan, no idea what to do."

"Why didn't you fight back?" Marco demanded. "I mean, you talk about how advanced the Pemalites were. If they could create androids, they could create weapons."

Erek looked at him and nodded, like he agreed. "The Pemalites had forgotten the ways of conflict and war. They were creatures of peace. They'd forgotten that there could be such a thing as pure evil." That answer just frustrated me. It made no sense. But I let Erek tell the rest of his grim story.

"As we ran for our lives through Zero-space, we discovered that the Howlers had achieved a special revenge. The Pemalites began to become sick. They began to die. The Howlers had unleashed germ weapons. The Pemalites were doomed. But we Chee, we androids, were unaffected."

The scene around us became the inside of a space ship. A scene of Chee, looking on helplessly while one of their creators writhed in pain. There was also a shot if a room with two objects, one a golden orb that I have never seen, but something told me it was something important. The other I have never actually seen but I knew all about it. It was a glowing green ball of light. It was the Key. Me. "Over the year the Pemalites had found a number of 'fun' objects, they brought these with them."

"Then we remembered a planet. A planet similar to our own, but very far from our home and the Howlers. It had only one sun and the light was pale, but there were trees and grass and wonderful oceans."

"Earth," Cassie said.

"Earth," Erek said. "The Pemalites had not visited Earth in fifty thousand years, and in that time, everything had changed. The wandering tribes of primates had created cities. They had domesticated animals. They were planting crops. We landed on Earth with just six Pemalites still clinging to life."

The hologram disappeared, and the underground cavern was back to its normal self – a wide park of Earth trees and Earth plants, with dogs everywhere. "We could not save the Pemalites. They would die. But we could try and rescue some part of them. We hoped we could keep their hearts, their souls alive somehow. We looked for an Earth species we could use to harbor the essence of the Pemalites. Their decency. Their kindness. Their playfulness and love."

"Wolves," Cassie said, once again way ahead of me.

Erek looked surprised, but he nodded his holographically projected human head. "Yes. They looked most like the Pemalites themselves. We grafted the essence of the Pemalites into the wolf species. And from that union, dogs were created. To this day, most dogs carry within them the essence of the Pemalites. Not all, but most. Wherever you see a dog playing, chasing a stick, running around barking for the sheer joy of life, you see the remnants of the race of Pemalites."

"That's why all these dogs are here," Jake said. "They're your. . . what, friends? Creators?"

"They are our joy," Erek said, "Because they remind us of a world without evil. The world we lost. We Chee are all that is left of Pemalite technological genius. The dogs of Earth are all that is left of Pemalite souls."

"So you all pass as humans?" I asked Erek.

He nodded. "Yes. We live as humans. We play the role of children and then grow older, and eventually our hologram is allowed to 'die' and we start again as children."

"How long has this been going on?" Cassie asked.

Erek smiled warmly. "I helped to build the great pyramid."

"You designed the pyramids?"

"No, no, of course not. We have never interfered in human affairs. I was a slave. I helped to quarry the stone. It was a challenge, because I was new at pretending to be human. I had to hide my real strength, of course. The Pemalite home world had a gravity four times stronger than Earth's. Naturally, we were designed for that gravity, which means we are quite powerful by human standards."

"And you stayed as a slave?" Jake asked. "You could have taken over Egypt. You could have taken over the world."

"No. We are not the Yeerks," He said coldly. "You see, when our creators made us, they hardwired us for nonviolence. We are not capable of hurting another living being. No Chee has ever taken a life."

Just then, I noticed a group of four Chee walking quickly toward us.

Erek saw them, too. Even though I know his 'face' was just a hologram, it seemed to me he was annoyed.

"What have you done?" One of the Chee demanded. "What have you done, you fool?"

The four Chee came up and glared at us with robot eyes. "Humans? An Andalite? Here?

What have you told them?" But they were staring at me. Great.

"Everything," Erek said defiantly. "These are the ones, these humans and this Andalite, who have been resisting the Yeerks. They're the ones who can morph." His voice rose. "They are the ones who are fighting the battle we should fight."

"We are Chee. We do not fight," One of the androids said. It turned on its holographic projector. A human body appeared. The body of an old woman, maybe eighty years old. "I am Chee-lonos. My human name for now is Maria," she said. "I did not mean to seem angry toward you humans, or you, my Andalite friend, and most certainly not you." She said looking at me, "My dispute is with this Chee called Erek and some of his friends."

"We stood by helplessly as the Howlers annihilated our creators," Erek said to Maria. "We can't stand by helplessly and watch this world be destroyed, too. Dogs and humans are intertwined. They have evolved a dependency. Dogs cannot survive without humans. If the humans fall to the Yeerks, we, the last great masterpieces of the Pemalites, and the dogs, their spirit-homes, will all die, too."

I gave Rachel a look. That's why the Chee wanted to help humans? To save dogs? Jake shook his head slightly in amusement.

"We do not fight," Maria said heatedly. "We do not kill. You know that, Erek. Yet you bring these outsiders here. You blurt the secrets we have kept for thousands of years. Why? What good can come from it? We cannot fight to save the humans."

"That's where you're wrong," Erek said softly. "We can fight. While you and the others merely hope everything will work out, my friends and I have been infiltrating the Yeerk organizations here on Earth. The Yeerks even think that I am one of them."

Maria and the three unhologrammed Chee just stared.

"The Yeerks have been busy. They control a computer company called Matcom."

It took me a couple of seconds to remember that name.

Erek went on. "The Yeerks are working on a master computer to infiltrate and rewrite all the software in all the computers on Earth. When they have achieved sufficient force among humans, they will launch this computer bomb, and in a flash, control all computers."

"What does this have to do with us?" Maria asked.

"The heart of this system is a crystal the Yeerks obtained from a Dayang trader. The Dayang didn't know what he had. But the Yeerks did. The crystal is a processor more sophisticated than anything even the Andalites could create. And it is more than fiftythousand Earth years old."

"A Pemalite crystal!" Maria gasped.

"Yes. A Pemalite crystal. If we had it, we could rewrite our own internal systems. Do you understand now? We could erase the prohibition against violence. We could be free! Free to fight!"

"A Pemalite crystal," Maria whispered. "You can't do this, Erek. You can't!"

But Erek just turned away. "If we can get the crystal, there is very little we can't do. Our strength, joined with these Animorphs? The Yeerks would have to double their forces just to contain us."

{How did you convince the Yeerks that you are one of them?} Ax asked him.

Erek turned off his hologram and became a machine once again. And then the front of his head split open. Inside his steel and ivory head was a chamber, just a few inches in diameter. And inside that chamber was a gray slug, helpless, unable to escape. Tiny wires, no thicker than hairs, wrapped around it.

{Yeerk!} Ax hissed.

"Yes," Erek said. "The Yeerks believe I am human. I accepted infestation. But of course the Yeerk cannot make a Controller of me. I made a place for him instead. He sees nothing. Knows nothing. I tapped his memory, not the other way around. And now I can pass among the Yeerks like one of them."

I had two reactions. One, I was sick at the thought of that Yeerk, trapped inside a steel cage. As much as I hated Yeerks, it seemed harsh just the same.

But another reaction was much stronger. We had an ally! A powerful ally. An android who could pass as a Controller, who could enter Yeerk society. And an android with many powers of his own.

"How do you keep the Yeerk alive without Kandrona rays?" Cassie asked.

See, every three days a Yeerk has to return to the Yeerk pool to absorb Kandrona rays. Without that, they die.

"I am able to use my own internal power to generate Kandrona rays to keep this Yeerk alive," Erek explained. "When I go to the Yeerk pool I am able to trick the Yeerks into believing that my Yeerk is swimming in the pool. I generate a hologram of a Yeerk leaving my ear and dropping into the pool. Later, I create a hologram of it returning. The Yeerks never notice that they don't encounter this Yeerk actually in the pool. Yeerks communicate very little in their natural states."

"How do we fit into all this?" Jake asked. "I mean, what do you want with us, Erek?"

Erek resumed his human appearance. He stepped toward us, eager, excited. "We could fight together against the Yeerks. We could be allies. If only ... we need that Pemalite crystal. But the Yeerks have created a maze of defenses like nothing you can imagine. That crystal is in a room at the heart of the Matcom building. There are Hork-Bajir everywhere. Elite Hork-Bajir warriors, the best."

"And the crystal itself is guarded by an ingenious system. It is concealed in a room of absolute darkness. Absolute darkness. The slightest, faintest light, ultraviolet, infrared, any light, will set off alarms. Within the darkness are wires that are set off by the slightest touch."

"So to get to the crystal you'd have to be able to find it without seeing it, and avoid the wires that are also invisible in the darkness," I said.

"It's like finding a needle in a haystack when you're blindfolded and can't touch a single piece of hay. The walls, ceiling, and floor are all pressure-sensitive, so you can't touch them. It may be impossible," Erek said.

"How are we supposed to do that?" I demanded. "How can you find something you can't see? It's not like it'll smell or call out to us."

"Urn . . ." Cassie said.

"Excuse me?" Jake asked in surprise.

"It can be done," Cassie said. "I mean ... if we want to."

"Of course we want to," I said. "With these guys on our side, we actually have a chance of winning. Of course we want to. Animorphs and Chee together? Our morphing ability, their strength and holographic tricks? We'd kick Yeerk butt."

"No," Maria cried. "You don't understand. Chee do not hurt. Chee do not kill. No Chee has ever taken a life. While humans and Yeerks and Andalites and Hork-Bajir and a million other species on a million worlds warred and slaughtered and conquered, we remained at peace. Would you end all that? Would you make us killers, too?"

"Yes, ma'am, I guess I would," Marco said, a little coldly. "We're in a fight for our lives here. Our parents, our brothers and sisters, our friends - they are all going to be slaves of the Yeerks, if we don't win. So I'll do whatever it takes. If you'd fought all those thousands of years ago, the Pemalites would still be alive. And you wouldn't be living with dogs in a big underground kennel."

"A big underground kennel," Erek said bitterly. "Exactly."

"We'll get your crystal for you," Jake said. "Tell us all you know about this Matcom, and we'll get your crystal." He looked at the Chee called Maria. "Sorry, but Marco is right. The Yeerks have my brother. There's nothing I won't do to get him back."

We rode the fake basement back up, leaving the eerie golden world of dogs behind.

"So do we have a deal?" Erek asked. "You'll help us get the Pemalite crystal? And then we'll fight alongside you to defeat the Yeerks."

"Sounds good to me," Marco said quickly.

"Unless anyone has any objection –" Jake started to say.

That's when Cassie interrupted. "Erek, let us talk it over. It's a big decision."

Marco was surprised, but not as surprised as Jake was. I, on the other hand, kind of agreed with what Cassie said. Then we heard a noise coming from directly above us.

"HhhhrrrAAAAWWWWRRRR!"

"Oh, man," I said. I knew that sound. We all knew that sound.

"Rachel," Cassie said under her breath.

"We were down there a long time," Jake said. "Erek, I think a friend of ours may have come in to rescue us."

Erek shrugged. "I don't think it's going to be a problem."

"You don't know our friend," I said.

The basement had settled back into its normal place. I tore up the stairway. "Rachel! Chill!"

I burst back into the utterly normal kitchen and raced into the utterly normal living room. The front door of the house had been ripped off its hinges. The couch was thrown against one wall.

And there, in the middle of the room, standing so tall its head scraped the ceiling, was a full grown grizzly bear.

"HhhhRRAAAAWWRRR!" Rachel roared in rage and frustration.

Frustration, see, because the Chee who passed as Erek's father had her in a full nelson. His human-holograph arms were wrapped around the unbelievably massive shoulders of the grizzly, and he was actually holding the great bear still. He had pinned a grizzly so powerful it could literally turn a Toyota into an aluminum can.

"Okay, now I've seen everything," Marco said.

"Not even close." I told him.

{You Chee are very strong} Ax commented. This was the understatement of all time.

{Where have you been!} Rachel demanded. {I waited as long as I could. I figured you were dead or something. And if you don't have a good explanation, you will be dead!}

"Oh, we have a story, all right," Cassie said.

Rachel had calmed down and stopped roaring when she saw us. Now the Chee slowly released her, and she began to change back out of morph.

Jake looked embarrassed and started to pull the couch back down. "Urn, Erek, this is our friend Rachel."

"It was smart of you to keep a reserve," Erek commented. To Rachel he said, "I hope you weren't hurt."

"How come you can wrestle a grizzly if you have to be nonviolent?" I asked Erek.

"Of course, my 'father' here knew she was not a true bear. And he only held onto her. He did not destroy her. If Rachel had been strong enough to win, my 'father' would have had no choice but to allow himself to be destroyed."

Marco laughed. "I see why you want to change that."

I expected Erek to agree. Instead, he looked a little sad. "Yes," he said. Just that one word.

On the way home, we filled Rachel and Tobias in on what had happened. It took a while.

~Scene Break~

We were back at Cassie's barn before we were done.

"I say do it," Rachel said. "That Chee guy held onto me like I was a baby. They're strong. They have technology we don't. They've already penetrated The Sharing. They would double our chances. End of story."

"No, not end of story," Cassie said, contradicting her friend. "What right do we have to interfere and destroy the thousands of years of peace this species has had? Didn't you hear Maria? No Chee has ever taken another life. You want them to be saying a thousand years from now that no Chee ever took a life till we made them killers?"

Marco rounded on her, angry. "What I don't want a thousand years from now is for people to be saying, 'Too bad about the humans. They ended up as dead as the Pemalites.'"

"Ax? Dawn?" Jake asked. "You guys haven't said much."

Ax was in human morph, of course, since we were in the barn. "As you know, we Andalites are not supposed to interfere in the lives of other species. I am already breaking that law with you. And I am proud to be breaking that law in this case. But the Chee . . . Chee! It makes a funny sound, doesn't it? Chee." He smiled with his human mouth, and then grew serious again. "The Chee are a different species. Older than Andalites. I feel . . . badly . . . helping another species to become violent."

I looked around the room. "I understand why. I really do. But I hate it. There is no one in here that doesn't wis- want the world to be peaceful. The universe." I said glancing at Ax, "I can't say no. But Goddess knows I want to."

Rachel said, "Look, no one likes violence. All right? But we didn't ask for this war with the Yeerks. When the bad guys come after you, when they start the violence, they leave you no choice: fight or die."

"Fight or die," Marco agreed. "And you want proof? Look at the Pemalites. They didn't fight, they died. All gone. No more. Scratch a whole species. Now their 'essence,' whatever that means, is stuck inside dogs, and their robots feed them extra kibble. Yippee. That worked out real well for them. And even that's better off than we'll be if we lose to the Yeerks."

"Law of the jungle," Rachel said. "You eat or you get eaten."

{Maybe so} Toby said, speaking up for the first time. {But still, wouldn't it be nice if that wasn't the law?}

"How can you take that attitude?" Marco demanded. "You're a predator. You know how it is."

I hissed at him, and yes, it was kind of weird and everyone gave me 'huh?' look. But that was my cousin!

{Yes. I know exactly how it is. That doesn't mean I like it. Look, the Pemalites were wiped out, maybe because they didn't fight. Maybe they'd have lost even if they had fought. We'll never know. But the Chee have lived for thousands of years. I know they're androids, but they're a species, too. They've survived without killing. Doesn't something about that make you jealous? Don't you wish we could say the same? Don't you wish Homo sapiens could face the universe and honestly say, 'We do not kill? We don't enslave. We don't make war'?}

"I don't make the rules," Marco said. "I didn't start this war. Humans didn't start this war. Look, I don't want to make this personal, but I know the name Matcom. My dad is involved in some work with them. And the other day Tom ..." He shot a glance at Jake. "His brother was on me to come to The Sharing and bring my father. The Sharing is targeting my dad, and now we know why. So for me, it's simple: If we take this Pemalite crystal, maybe my dad isn't involved with Matcom anymore. And maybe the Yeerks find someone else to infest." No one had an answer to that.

Cassie walked down to the far end of the barn and came back carrying a small cage. "Total darkness, can't touch walls, floor, or ceiling, and you have to travel through a room strung with sensitive wires you can't even see." She held up the cage. "Meet the animal that can do all that."

It was no larger than a small rat with its leathery wings folded back.

"Cool," I said. "First I'm Spiderman, now I get to be Batman."

~Scene Break~

I was signing some school forms when I got the call that the plans had changed, doing this a week sooner than expected. Great. Good thing Toby loves me, otherwise I don't think anyone would have even told me. Well, maybe Ax would have gotten me. I think.

Four hours later, with all of our parents asleep in their beds, we met at Cassie's barn. All of us. Erek arrived last.

He didn't waste time with small talk. "There's a problem. The Yeerks are putting in a brand new security system on top of the existing systems. I don't think it's active yet, but I can't find out what it is."

{Fine. We can wait a few weeks till you can get the details.} Tobias said.

"The crystal is already so well protected that any new system may put it beyond our grasp for good," Erek said. "And don't forget - the Yeerks are racing to use this crystal to create a computer system so powerful it can take over every computer on Earth. They're not there yet. But the longer we wait. . ."

"Oh, man, this sucks," I said. "No planning? No preparation? Just go in and hope for the best?"

"I'll tell you everything I know," Erek said. "Listen carefully. It's not too complicated."

For a few seconds we sort of teetered on the edge. We weren't sure what to do. Erek wanted us to go in, obviously. But he had his own interests, which might not be the same as ours. It was the worst possible situation. Anyone of our parents could wake up and discover we were not at home. That would mean frantic phone calls back and forth from our folks to our friends' parents, calls to the cops, probably search teams out beating the woods.

"Go or don't go?" Jake asked.

"Go," Rachel said, but with less enthusiasm than usual. A lot less.

"Go," Marco said. "But personally, I can't blame anyone who wants to sit this one out."

Cassie gave him a dirty look. I guess she took it personally. "I say go," She said. "I don't sit anything out, Marco."

{I'm not in this.} Tobias said. {I'm useless on this mission, so I don't vote.}

"I care what you think, Toby. I give my vote to him." I said crossing my arms.

{No.} He said.

{I go where Prince Jake goes.} Ax said.

"Don't call me 'prince,'" Jake said wearily for the thousandth time. "Okay, we go. Sorry, Tobias. So are you out, Dawn?"

{Its okay, Dawnie. It's better if you go. They need you.} Toby told me.

Erek immediately began telling us all he knew about Matcom and the security for the Pemalite crystal. Really? This was impossible.

Erek was not going with us. But he would be waiting outside Matcom when we came out. Assuming we came out.

We flew from Cassie's barn to the Matcom building. It was one of those boringlooking, three-story glass and cement buildings you see in industrial parks everywhere. Just a bunch of blue glass rectangles with a big parking lot in back. In fact, it looked so much like every other boring square building in the industrial park, we had trouble finding it. We flew around, a lost gang of owls, for a good fifteen minutes before Rachel spotted the Matcom sign. We landed on the roof of the building. Erek had assured us there were no cameras or guards up there.

"Let's find that pipe," Jake whispered as soon as we were all human again. Or, in Ax's case,

Andalite.

"Erek said southwest corner, right?" I said.

"At northwest," Cassie said. She sounded sure, so I decided to agree.

"Yeah, that was it. Which way is northwest?"

Ax laughed in thought-speak, till he realized I was serious. {You can't find directions?} He sounded shocked. Like he'd just discovered we had hidden tail blades. {It's that corner over there.}

The pipe was about three inches in diameter.

"I hope this works," Marco said. "I don't even know if my Spiderman can make silk."

"Spiderwoman," Cassie said. "Your spider morph is female. Wolf spiders don't make webs, but they do make silk. It should work."

"Easy for you say. I don't even know how to turn on the silk thing."

But Ax was already morphing into the wolf spider, so he hurried to catch up. By the time Ax and Marco were in spider morph, the rest of had all become cockroaches.

{Man, you two are ugly at this scale} Rachel said. {Jeez, I don't ever need to see another spider my own size again.}

{We're ugly? You want to know what you look like right now? You look like dinner} Marco said, laughing evilly. {Juicy cockroach. This spider morph is hungry, and you look tasty.}

{Are you losing it again? Because I have a birdy cousin, trust me being eaten sucks, and one complant and guess who is really dinner?} I shot back.

{Marco, get a grip. Dawn calm down.} Jake said patiently. {Let's do this.}

{I'll demorph and step on your ugly butt.} Rachel growled.

I could still hear Marco's and Ax's conversation which was not comforting.

{Oooookay} Marco said. {Now comes the fun part.}

{Well, this is certainly disgusting} Marco again. {Ready, Ax?}

{Yes.}

{Then . . . Yeeeeee-Haaaaahhh!}

It was awhile before I heard Marco again. {Ax! I'm running out of web.}

{Yes, me, too.} Not good Ax, I thought.

{How far do you think we've dropped?}

{I don't know.}

{You know which way is northwest but you don't know how far we've dropped? We could still have two stories to go} Marco said.

{I think our plan has a minor flaw} Ax said with his usual understatement. {But we are very light, small creatures. We should survive a fall. So should the others in cockroach morph.}

{Maybe. See, the problem is, there's only one way to find out if we'll survive. By dropping.}

Ax didn't say anything.

{Oh, man.} Marco groaned.

{Aaaaahhhhhhh!}

{Aaaaahhhhhhh!}

{You okay?} Jake called down.

{Oh, yeah, I'm great.} Marco said. {I fell about a billion feet and landed on a steel trampoline. Couldn't be better.}

{Sarcasm} Rachel commented coolly. {He must be okay.}

{Laugh now, Rachel. We'll see how much you laugh when it's your turn.} The plan was for Ax and Marco to create a silk cable the others in cockroach morph would be able to climb down. That way, we wouldn't all have to go spider. Not that it would have helped, anyway.

{We're coming down} Jake said. {When we reach the end of the silk we'll jump. If you two survived, we will. Nothing kills a cockroach.}

{Why don't you stand right beneath me, Marco?} Rachel suggested. {You can break my fall.}

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! Four cockroaches landed nearby were Ax and Marco waited.

{Where are we?} Jake asked.

{It's pretty dark. Who knows?} Marco answered. {It's a heating stair-conditioning vent, I guess. Erek said it would be part of the furnace system. Supposedly we go west a hundred feet or so, then drop down, then go across the furnace, then down again, then right. Then we're at the edge of the High Security Room, where the real trouble starts.}

{Excuse me? Did someone say furnace?} I asked.

{Yeah. I said furnace.}

{Does it occur to any of you that the furnace might actually come on?} Cassie said.

{Not till right this minute. It seems only Cassie and I have the sense to know crispy bugs are a bad idea.} I said.

{It's not very cold out.} Rachel pointed out.

{Okay, I've seriously changed my mind.} I said. {Let's go home.}

Of course, no one listened to me. We scrabbled along the steel floor, two spiders and four cockroaches. Our rough claws seemed to make a horrible din on the metal, scuffing and scratching. But it probably wouldn't have sounded like anything to a human.

Eventually the dust became as thick as a carpet; although in reality it was probably no more than a few millimeters thick.

Every ten feet or so there would be a grilled opening. Through the massive upright bars I could see offices. The light in the offices was very dim, just the glow of computer screen savers and red or green function lights. But it helped us to find our way through the darkness of the vent.

Then . . .

{What's that?} Rachel yelled. She was the farthest back. {Uh-oh. Something coming! I feel

the vibrations! Something big!}

She took off. I took off. We all took off. Now I could feel the vibrations, too. Quick, confused-sounding footsteps. And a dragging sound, like something was being hauled. I my left, a spider. Ax. Ahead of me, two roaches, almost as big as I was. Rachel and Marco were just back to my right. I couldn't exactly turn and glance over my shoulder. I had no shoulder.

And I had no actual head to turn. So I paused, spun around, and in the dim light from a vent, I saw it. Huge. Twenty times my size! A vast, horrible menace.

{A rat!} I yelled. {It's a RAT!} The thing I'd heard dragging was its naked tail and furred abdomen.

It was hungry, and it was after us. And, unfortunately, it was faster than me.

{Go! Go! Go! It's gaining!} I yelled. We blew at top spider and cockroach speed. Which seems really fast when you're an inch long, but isn't really that many miles per hour. A rat can do maybe five or six miles per hour. A spider is lucky to break one mph.

{We'll have to morph back!} Jake said.

{Not in here!} Cassie cried. {Not enough room.}

{Next vent} Jake said. {We go out through the next vent.}

The next vent was about ten feet away.

Yet there was something else making me tingle, too. Something about the breeze . . .

{YAAHHH!} I heard Jake yell.

A split second later, my roach were clawing air. It was like a Roadrunner cartoon. I zoomed out into space, seemed to hang there with my little feet motoring away, and then I fell.

{Oh, yes} Ax said calmly. {Erek mentioned we had to go down again.}

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

We hit steel again, and each impact sent dust clouds swirling.

{Keep running!} Cassie cried, and fortunately, for once, I didn't argue.

Buh-Booooom!

The rat dropped behind us! It was still after us! Fortunately, it was a little stunned by the impact, whereas we were outta there!

Suddenly, ahead of us, the steel floor opened up again. But instead of a drop into darkness, there was a weird, vast plain of jagged spires. Each of the spires was steel, three times as tall as my little roach body. Each metal spire opened at the top. There were hundreds of them, all arranged in perfect rows. A foul smell, something my roach mind knew nothing about, came from this field of spires.

A weird, flickering glow lit the landscape. In the eerie light, it looked like some awful graveyard, with the spires like industrial-strength gravestones or something. I mean, it was creepy.

{What is that?} Marco asked.

{Let's just get going, all right?} Rachel suggested. {We can sightsee some other time.}

I would never have walked into that "field" if the rat hadn't been just two feet back and gaining again. I didn't need spider senses to know there was danger here. It screamed danger.

{What is that?} I asked this time.

{You don't want to know} Jake said grimly. {Let's just get out of here, okay?} Right then it hit me. From the tone of Jake's thought-speak voice.

{This is the furnace, isn't it? These spires . . . the holes in the tops of them . . . it's where the gas comes out!}

{Not if no one turns on the heat} Rachel said grimly. Over my head now, I saw the source of the eerie glow. It was the pilot light. It was a jet of blue flame as long as my body. I could feel the heat from it, even though it seemed to be as far above my head as the ceiling of a cathedral. The rat, smarter than we were, decided to stop at the edge of the furnace. But there was no going back. We had to cross the furnace. We had to hope the Matcom Corporation was into energy conservation and didn't waste heat. We had to pray that no one had messed with the thermostat. Because if the heat came on...

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

{Gas!} The gas blew with hurricane force up through the tops of the spires. In seconds the gas would rise to the pilot light. In seconds the entire landscape would erupt in flame! I thought I'd been moving as fast as I could move. I was wrong. I had a whole extra speed. Ahead of me I saw Jake, Rachel, and Ax all reach safety. Only Cassie, Marco, and I were still deadly inches away from safety.

{RUN! RUN! RUNRUNRUNRUN!}

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Then . . . WHOOOOOOSH! Fuh-Wwwuuuummmp! The whole world seemed to explode around me. A wall of flame ... a hurricane of hot air.

I was blown head over heels, somersaulting through air as hot as an oven. I somersaulted backward, hit steel floor again, and screeched like a skidding car. I plowed straight into Ax, and a split second later, Marco plowed straight into me.

{Cassie! Cassie! Are you okay?} Jake asked.

{Dawn?} Ax asked me at the same time.

{Yes, yes. I think so. Who can tell with this roach body?} Cassie said.

{Five by Five.}

{I'm okay, too} Marco said. {You know, just in case anyone cares.}

{I guess they like to keep this building nice and warm, eh?} Rachel said.

{That was very close to being a disaster} Ax said. {We should thank the rat. If he had not chased us, we would have been crossing those gas jets several seconds later.} That was not a nice picture to think of. We would have fried, sizzled, and popped open faster than we could even try to think about de-morphing.

{That would have left a big wad of Marco mass floating in Z-space} Marco muttered.

The rest of the trip through the heating and air-conditioning system was calm. But that just gave me time to think about the close call. One second slower, and I'd have gone out as a roasted roach.

{There are walls up here} Jake warned from the head of our little pack of singed bugs. {No, wait, not walls. Like a maze. Like Erek said.}

We traveled through a series of switchbacks, around a steel panel, then back around another. It was a light-blocking system. It would block out every last photon of light that might come through the vent.

Then we came to the edge of a drop. Beyond it, I knew, was the High Security Room itself - the location of the Pemalite crystal.

We were six feet up. We had to drop, and then stay within two feet of the wall. Any movement farther toward the center of the huge room, and we would set off pressure sensors in the floor.

By this time, we were used to falling.

{Next I want to try jumping out of a plane. Without a parachute} I said as I stepped into the black void. It is an eerie experience falling in total darkness. You have no idea where the floor is. It's almost like you're not falling at all. Until you hit the bottom, that is.

{Stay close to the wall} Jake reminded everyone. {Hug the wall and demorph.}

I was relieved to be human again. But my human eyes were no better than roach eyes at penetrating the darkness. It was darker than any night. Darker than hiding in a closet at midnight. This was the darkness of being buried alive.

"There could be six Hork-Bajir standing three inches away, and we wouldn't know it," I said, in a whisper that seemed to be deadened by the darkness itself.

"That's a nice thought," Rachel said dryly.

{Even a single photon of light would set off the light sensors} Ax said. {This is complete darkness.}

{And according to Erek, if we stepped two feet away from the wall, we'd run into a maze of ultrasensitive wires. Any contact and the alarm goes off. We have to travel forty feet without touching a wire. Without touching the floor or ceiling or walls," Jake reminded us.

"Let's morph. We'll be able to see then," Cassie said. "Or maybe not see, exactly, but you know what I mean."

What she meant was that we would be able to echolocate. Kinda like the dolphin morph. We would be able to make very fast, ultrahigh sounds that the human ear would not even hear. Those sounds would vibrate off any solid object and send back a sort of sound picture.

At least, that's what we hoped. We had been planning to practice and find out if it was true.

Instead, we were morphing without any knowledge of what we were getting into. "Someday we'll think all this is funny," I said. "You know, if we happen to live long enough."

I focused my mind on the bat morph we had each acquired. They aren't as creepy as people think. Certainly not as creepy as morphing a spider. This particular bat was very small, just a few inches long. It looked like a mouse, with huge ears and the face of a Pekinese dog. If you forgot about the leathery wings, it was just another basic mammal.

But this was one case where the weirdness wasn't something you saw. I couldn't see anything. Nothing. I couldn't see myself shrinking, the ground rushing up at me. I couldn't see the way my legs shrank to almost nothing and brown fur sprouted from my body. I couldn't see the way my fingers grew so long and a paper-thin leather web filled the spaces between them.

I saw none of it. I didn't even know I was a bat, until my bat brain sent an order for me to open my mouth and chirp out a pulse of sound.

I fired a string of superfast sound pulses. Like making a loud machine-gun sound, only a lot higher, and way, way faster.

And then . . .

{Whoa, ho!} I said.

The entire black, pitch-black, invisible room, had just lit up.

It wasn't like seeing, exactly. It was like . . . like feeling, almost. Except it was like you were feeling from a distance. I felt a vast room. I felt thousands of wires strung taut, up and down, left to right, at angles. And, at the center of the room, beyond the maze of wires, I felt a raised, flat surface, and a sort of pedestal. There were curling wires coming from the top of the pedestal.

All that came in a flash. Then it was gone. The others each fired off their own echolocating blasts, but I couldn't feel their sounds as clearly.

{Okay, that is cool.} Rachel said. {That is way cool.}

{The wires seem awfully close together.} Cassie worried. {I wish we'd had time to try out these wings. I guess all we can do is hope for the best. Trust the bat to do the flying.}

{Abandon yourself to the Force, Cassie Skywalker} I said.

{Thanks, Darth. You first.}

{Me first? Oh.} Suddenly, I didn't feel at all like laughing. I licked my lips with my little bat tongue. Assuming I had lips. I wasn't sure.

I opened my wings. I spread them wide and thought, well, this should be interesting.

I tested the wings cautiously. They moved differently than bird wings. More like I was reaching out with each stroke to grab the air and push it behind me.

{Okay. Here goes.}

I fired an echolocating burst and took off.

Fired again! There were tight strings all around me!

Left!

Left again!

Down!

No, up!

Right, left, right, right, straight up!

Again and again the high-pitched sound machine gun fired. Again and again I dodged, millimeters from a wire.

It was insane! It was so fast my human brain was three steps behind. It was instantaneous. It was impossible! The speed, the agility, the instant translation of the echolocating blasts.

And suddenly, I was through! I was through the wires.

I landed on the table in the center of the room. It was all over in ten seconds of lunatic flight.

{Okay, now that is a roller-coaster ride! Yes!} I said, incredibly jazzed from having made it. {Yes!}

The others came, one by one. I could watch them fly, seeing them in my echolocating flashes.

Everyone made it. And we were feeling pretty good about it, too. It was a rush.

{We did it!} Marco said.

{These bats can fly!} Rachel added.

{Is that the crystal?} Cassie asked.

Ax fired a burst and said, {That must be it.}

It was no bigger than a grape. It rested on a small pedestal. Wires - not the sensor wires, but curling electrical-type wires, edged in all around it. But the crystal itself was not attached to anything. It just lay there, where anyone could grab it. It made a low sort of humming noise. I know it makes no sense, but it was almost like that crystal was alive.

{Um ... I have a stupid question} I said. {How do we grab this thing?} For about ten seconds, no one said a word.

{We don't have hands} Cassie said, pointing out the obvious.

{We can grab it in our mouths} Rachel said. {Right? Bats eat moths and stuff. They must have pretty strong jaws. Strong enough to get that crystal back to the air vent.}

{Oh, duh. Of course} Jake said, sounding relieved. {I'll do it.}

{I believe that may not work} Ax said.

{Jake?} Cassie said. {Jake? If you have a crystal in your mouth, how do you fire the echolocating burst?}

At which point we were suddenly no longer feeling so good.

{I believe our plan now has somewhat of a flaw.} Ax said quietly.

{They always do, Axis.}

{See? We should never get cocky} Cassie said. {It's tempting the irony gods.}

{Irony gods?} Ax asked.

{Yeah,} Cassie said. {The bitter spirits who wait around till you get cocky, then hammer you.}

{These are real?}

{Yes.} I answered.

{No, of course not} Cassie said impatiently. {How do we get out of here with that crystal?}

{We power our way out.} Rachel said.

Ax said, {Erek's opinion was that there were many guards here in this building.}

{We didn't see any on our way through the shafts,} Jake remarked. {But Erek's been pretty accurate so far. I have a feeling if he says there are guards here, there are guards here.}

{No choice} Rachel said. {We morph whatever we have that's big, mean, and nasty, then slam our way out of this place.}

{Speaking of irony gods} I muttered.

{What do you mean?} Rachel asked.

{I mean, we came here to get this Pemalite crystal so the Chee could be free to be violent. And now, despite all our clever planning, all our sneakiness and subtlety, we're stuck in the end going for total Schwarzenegger.}

{Rachel's right} Jake said. He sighed. {We're looking at a fighting retreat.}

Cassie said, {I think there's a door over there. Try echolocating. You'll see a raised rectangular outline. I think it's a door.}

{Yep.} Jake agreed. {Morph out, keep that direction in mind. Remorph, and be ready to haul butt for that door. Head for any way out of this building. Don't stand and fight, just try to force your way past anyone who comes after us.}

It was times like this I was glad Jake was our so-called leader. We all knew what we had to do, but someone had to actually say it. And, boy, was I glad it wasn't me.

{I have such a bad feeling about that} I muttered.

I went human again, then moved to me Croc morph. With jaws strong enough to bring down a bison win moments.

{Everyone ready?} Jake asked.

There in the darkness, near enough to touch, but invisible, was enough power to shred a small army. Jake was in his tiger morph. Cassie had gone wolf. Rachel was one of the few animals mightier than my Croc: She was a full-grown, massively powerful grizzly bear. And Ax ... well, Ax was Ax. And trust me, when you've seen an Andalite in battle, you know that tail is all he needs.

{Ready? Why, I'm looking forward to it.} I said, trying to sound like I wasn't scared silly.

{I'll go first.} Rachel said. And before anyone had time to object . . .

HHHRRRRRAAAAWWWWRRR! Rachel barreled above me, stepping on me and practically smashing me around like potatoes. A microsecond later. . . ScreeEEEEET! ScreeEEEEET! ScreeEEEEET! The alarm was deafening.

The others barreled after her. Rachel tore a path through the alarm wires, and I could feel where she had gone. I move under Ax, then slithered around Jake, then suddenly - WHAM! – hit the wall.

ScreeEEEEET! ScreeEEEET! ScreeEEEET! Ka-Rrrrunch!

A loud, screeching, tearing noise. Sudden light! I could see. Man, it was a relief to be able to see something at least. Dim light came through the door. Or what was left of the door, after Rachel had given the door a thousand pounds or so of mad, ready-to-fight grizzly. The door was splinters. It was steel, and it was still splinters.

A large back form was in front of me, Marco in Gorilla morph. I saw a flash of orange and black, moving fast but almost delicately - Jake, in tiger morph. Cassie the wolf followed him. Right behind her was the one animal that wasn't from anywhere on Earth.

There was a hallway outside. Jake said {Left!} and we went left.

Past doorways, past offices, past normal things like copiers and computers and fax machines and desks and cubicles, we ran. Rachel was in the lead, a huge, lumbering truck on four legs. Her roars mixed with the endless scream of the alarms.

ScreeEEEEET! ScreeEEEEET! ScreeEEEEET!

Suddenly, another door, a dead end. Rachel hit it with her shoulder, and the door was gone.

There was a big room beyond. High ceilings, open space, a lobby sort of room. Windows! I could see faint stars through the tinted glass.

Escape was just a hundred feet away.

Freedom! Life!

And all that stood in our way was twenty men: human-Controllers, armed with automatic rifles.

And behind them, two dozen or more Hork-Bajir warriors. Rachel's bear had very poor vision, especially in this dim light.

{Hork-Bajir?} she asked.

{Yep} Marco said.

{How many?}

{Too many. Way too many.} He answered.

ScreeEEEET! ScreeEEEEET! ScreeEEEET!

The alarm was howling. And then, a far worse sound: Cha-Klick!

The human-Controllers had cocked their rifles, chambering a round. If they fired, we'd be blown apart before we could twitch.

A human-Controller stepped out in front. She was a nice-looking, middle-aged woman wearing normal street clothes. She had bleached blond hair. She could have been someone's grandmother.

"So the Andalite bandits," She said. Her face was twitching with tension, but she tried to sound calm. "You've done me a big favor. When I turn you over to Visser Three he'll promote me two grades. Maybe three!"

{Or he may decide to destroy you for letting us get this far.} Ax said coolly.

"Surrender. You can't escape," The woman snapped. "I'd rather take you alive, but the Visser would still be happy to have your corpses."

We stared at her. And we stared at the muzzles of the twenty automatic rifles that were leveled at us.

Marco held up his hand. Between his thick, brute fingers he held the Pemalite crystal.

The woman turned as pale as her hair. "Give me that."

He shook his big gorilla head.

"Lower those guns," The woman snapped.

"What?" Some guy behind her yelled. "We have them! We have them cold!"

The woman's jaw twitched again, but she stayed in control. "What do you think a bullet would do to that crystal?"

"But the odds that a bullet would hit the crystal ... It's not going to happen."

The woman smiled grimly. "That crystal is worth more than the mothership and everything in it," She said. Then she started yelling. "You want to shoot? Go ahead, fool! If you hit the crystal, you can explain it to Visser Three."

She got a grip on herself while the guy who had spoken out decided he was not interested in explaining anything to Visser Three.

"All human-Controllers, back. Weapons on safety," The woman snapped.

The rifles faltered, and then lowered toward the ground. But I knew better than to breathe a sigh of relief. See, I knew what was coming next.

The woman looked right at me and smiled. "Hork-Bajir, forward."

The Andalite who'd given us our powers had told us that the Hork-Bajir had once been a gentle, decent race before they were all enslaved by the Yeerks. All Hork-Bajir were Controllers now. But it was hard to believe the Hork-Bajir had ever been the sweethearts of the galaxy. They were death on two legs: seven feet tall, eight, if you counted the forward-raked blades that protruded from the top of their snake-heads. They had blades at their elbows, blades at their wrists, blades at their knees. They had huge claw-feet like tyrannosaurs, and a short, thick tail that ended in cruel-looking spikes.

They were walking razor blades. All sharp edges and lightning speed.

I've fought Hork-Bajir before. And I can count. Two dozen Hork-Bajir was at least a dozen more than we had any hope of defeating.

Then, behind the Hork-Bajir, beyond the retreating human-Controllers, outside the building, staring horror-stricken through the glass, I saw Erek.

Erek, who could do nothing at all to help us. Who was helpless to do anything but witness our slaughter. I felt like throwing up. The fear was all over me. The fear was surging through me, washing over me, drowning me from inside and out.

We were going to lose.

We were going to die.

And life, any kind of life almost, is so much better than being dead.

"Attack," The woman said. Her voice was nearly a whisper.

The Hork-Bajir leaped forward, a wall of slashing, whirling blades.

Right in front of me!

SEEEEWWW!

They advanced and I grabbed the leg of the closest one and rolled using him to take down as many of the others like a pair of bladed num-chucks.

One of the others got my tail and sunk and blade into it.

Ahhhhh! I screamed in thought-speak, as the Croc lashed out with his powerful tail throwing the Hork-Bajir across the room into some of the Human gun tooters.

The battle raged all around me.

Screams. Cries. Bellows of animal rage. The garbled roars of the Hork-Bajir. Even the guttural roar of the human-Controllers, who watched and cheered the Hork-Bajir on.

I saw Jake leap through the air and close his jaws around a Hork-Bajir's face.

I saw Rachel swing her paw and open up a Hork-Bajir like someone cleaning a fish.

I saw Cassie dodging swiftly, biting, backing away, lunging to bite again, red foam flying from her muzzle.

I saw Marco use his power grip to choke the life out of a Hork-Bajir, with his own hands.

And Ax, striking again . . . again . . . again with the deadly speed and perfect accuracy of his Andalite tail.

But we were losing. It would be over in a few seconds. We were losing.

{Oh, God!} Someone screamed. Maybe it was me, I don't know. {Help! Help! Get him off

me!}

{Look out!}

It was all one combined thought-speech scream.

And still the alarm howled its screeEEEEET!

I felt my grip weaken on the now dead Hork-Bajir weaken.

My vision was red. Red and fading.

I felt a sharp stab as another Hork-Bajir into my jaw. None of it mattered, though. It was all coming to an end ... all coming to an end. . . .

Through a red mist I saw a face on the other side of the glass. Erek. Somehow, in the battle, I had ended up not far from the wall of windows.

Erek was just a few feet away. Just on the other side of the glass.

Marco was crawling over to him. Why? Then I remembered, the Crystal!

I moved quickly grabing the another Hork-Bajir waving him around taking down anyone who dares step in front of me. Making a path for Marco.

Then someone got a lucky kick in the side of my head.

{Oh . . . no} I said. I could feel the damage the kick had done. I was dead. I could feel my

brain shutting down.

Human-Controllers were closing in around me, hammering me with the butts of their rifles.

And then . . . later, much later, someone was shaking my snot. "Morph back, Dawn. Morph back! Marco. Do it! Both of you damn it!"

I woke up on the ground. Not a floor, the ground. Dirt and leaves.

I sat up very fast. I looked at my body.

"Human!" I heard Marco say and I saw he was lying next to me.

I wanted to cry from the sheer relief of being myself again. Myself and alive.

I looked around. Jake. Cassie. Rachel. Ax. All there! All human! Except for Ax, of course.

Toby was perched in the tree above us. Someone else was there, too. I heard a voice sobbing.

"You okay, Marco?" I asked.

"Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. Man, I was so close to being dead!"

"You were," Jake said solemnly to Marco. "He gave you an electric shock to start your heart again."

"Who did?"

Jake jerked his head toward the source of the crying. It was Erek, sitting in the dirt with his head down.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Little bunch of trees, just down from Matcom. Or what's left of Matcom."

"How did we get here? How did we get out of that place? We were toast!"

Cassie came over and sat beside Marco. "Marco saved us by getting the crystal to Erek. He used it. He rewrote his programming. He's the one who . . ." She looked away. "He . . ."

"He took care of the Hork-Bajir," Rachel said. "I saw some of it. I was still conscious."

I was confused. "How did Erek take care of the Hork-Bajir?"

{He destroyed them all.} Ax said.

Marco laughed. "Erek took out two dozen Hork-Bajir?"

No one laughed with him. Erek had stopped sobbing. I thought, why would a robot cry?

{All the Hork-Bajir} Ax said. {All the human-Controllers. All of them.}

"Goddess," I stood up. I could see the Matcom building. It was only a few hundred yards away. There was a big hole in the front glass. I had a very bad feeling about what was on the other side of that glass. All I could think of to say was, "All of them?"

"It lasted about ten seconds," Rachel said. She closed her eyes, trying not to remember what she had seen. But I guess the images weren't easily shut out. She opened her eyes again, and to my utter amazement, I saw tears.

{It was extremely brutal} Ax said told Marco. {Very brutal, and very swift. He carried us here. He revived you. He even reattached my arm.} Then he looked at me. {You had a blade stuck in your spinal cord, you couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.}

I saw a scar on Ax's left arm.

"He hasn't said anything since then," Cassie said sadly. "He won't talk to any of us."

"He saved us, though, right?" Marco said.

"Yeah," Cassie agreed, smiling a deeply sad smile. "He saved our lives. And lost his own soul."

I went to Erek. He stood up as I came over. "I'm sorry." I told him.

He looked at me with holographic human eyes. Maybe he had to choose to make them cry. Maybe he had to choose to give them that empty, hollow look. I don't know what the connection is between the android Chee and his projected human body.

"You saved our lives, Erek," I said.

"How do you . . . how do you live with the memory?" He asked me.

I knew what he meant. See, win or lose, right or wrong, the memory of violence sits inside your head. It sits there, like some lump you can't quite swallow. It sits there, a black hole that darkens hope, and eats away at everyday happiness like a cancer. It's the shadow you take into your own heart and try to live with.

I looked at him. "There was this goddess, and she was not going to stop trying to destroy the world and the only way to stop her was to kill an innocent man, Ben. Giles… He killed Ben to save the world. Because it was what he had to do. We just fight and try to forget so that way we can sleep until we wake ready to fight again."

Erek put a finger to his head. "Android," He said. He made a bitter, ruined smile. "I can't

forget. See? I can never forget . . . anything."

I looked at him. Already in my own human mind, the memories of that night's horror were fading. Would the Key remember?

What if I could never forget?

What if all those memories were fresh forever? I realized then why the Pemalites had forbidden their creatures to kill. The Chee lived forever. Forever was a long time to remember what Erek had done.

"I'm sorry," I said.

Erek nodded. "Yes." He held out his clenched fist, palm down. I knew what he was doing. I didn't want it. But I held out my own hand, and took the Pemalite crystal from him.

"I've changed my programming back," Erek said. "We ... I ... maybe at times I can tell you things. Information. But I'll never fight again. I can't join this war, my friend."

He walked away. We went to our homes and crawled into beds their parents never knew they left. It would be months, if not years before anyone comes looking for my uncle. I guess it could be worse; I could have to worry about someone finding his body. But since Spike had taken care of it… It was never going to be found. I hope.

I was beyond exhausted. But I couldn't sleep. Too many images. Too many memories. And I was afraid of the nightmares.

There are evil things in life, and I guess there are times when a human being has to fight those evils.

I closed my eyes and wandered lost and afraid through my nightmares.

And already, my mind was forgetting.

AN- I am sorry for any mistakes in grammer. Okay. I don't think it ever said that the Chee brought The Time Matrix to but it was found under the pyramids in the Andalite Chronicles so I have always had my theory about. And, as I said, they found the Key and the Time Matrix. Thank you for reading!


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